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Plant Manager

Precision Manufacturing — Engineered Industrial Components

Location: Topeka/Wichita, KS area (Onsite) – Relocation assistance is available, and ownership is open to creative arrangements, including support for candidates commuting from a larger nearby metro during a transition period.

Compensation: $150-190k base + bonus (open to higher for the right candidate)

Reports to: CEO

Direct Reports: All floor functions report to the PM

Team: Oversees CNC machining, assembly, quality, and shipping/receiving; approximately 100 production employees; non-union shop

Required

• 7-10+ years of hands-on manufacturing leadership experience, with direct responsibility for plant-level performance, whether as a Plant Manager, Operations Manager, or similar production leadership role
• Working knowledge across CNC machining, assembly, quality, and shipping/receiving operations, with comfort in both automated and manual, hand-assembly processes
• A track record of bringing structure, KPI discipline, and standardized processes to a production environment that has historically run informally
• Strong floor presence and the ability to build trust and motivate a long-tenured production workforce through visibility and hands-on leadership, not oversight from an office
• Comfort operating as a key operational partner to executive leadership, translating floor-level performance into clear, regular reporting
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, operations, business, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on manufacturing experience
• Genuine comfort living and leading in a small, close-knit manufacturing community

Nice to Have

• Experience in a private equity-backed or recently acquired manufacturing environment
• Exposure to M&A integration or multi-site operations, or a strong interest in growing into that scope
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification, or similar continuous improvement credential (5S, Kaizen, etc.)
• Background in precision machining or engineering, technical component manufacturing
• Experience building or restructuring a plant-level organizational chart from the ground up

The Opportunity

Our client is a private equity-backed manufacturer of highly engineered, precision components used across a range of demanding industrial applications. The company has decades of stability, a loyal and tenured workforce, and a strong reputation with customers, and ownership is now investing in an exciting new phase of growth. They're looking for a hands-on change leader, someone who can bring fresh energy, modern operating discipline, and real KPI rigor to a plant that's ready to write its next chapter.

This is a classic private equity growth story. Ownership has the capital and the intent to invest in this business over the next several years, including through acquisitions, and this role is built to grow in scope as that happens. It is not a caretaker assignment. It's a foundational hire for the next stage of the company's growth.

What You'll Do

• Own plant performance: Take full ownership of day-to-day production across CNC machining, assembly, quality, and shipping and receiving, with direct accountability for efficiency, throughput, and cost.
• Bring KPI discipline: Establish the metrics and report cadence the business needs, serving as the primary link between floor-level performance and executive reporting.
• Lead from the floor: Be visible and present in production daily, building trust and buy-in with a workforce that has done things the same way for decades.
• Build the team: Assess current talent, develop and train existing staff where possible, and make changes where needed. You'll have real ownership over how the team is structured and staffed.
• Professionalize operations: Move the plant from ad hoc, tribal-knowledge processes to documented, standardized ones, building the operational foundation for future growth.
• Partner with ownership: Work closely with the CEO, and over time with the company's private equity sponsor, as a trusted operational partner in the business's next chapter.

Why This Role Is Different

This is a true plant leadership role with direct executive access and real backing from an experienced, well-resourced ownership group. While the ideal candidate brings seasoned plant leadership experience, our client is also genuinely open to a strong step-up candidate, someone doing excellent work at a senior production or operations leadership level and ready to own a full P&L for the first time.

This is also a rare chance to shape an organization from a genuinely early stage. There's no fully built leadership bench below this role today, which means real latitude to build the right team and structure rather than inheriting someone else's.

The Culture

This role sits inside a small, tight-knit manufacturing community, and that shapes what success looks like here as much as any technical skill. The right person will be genuinely comfortable living and leading in that kind of environment, someone who can earn credibility quickly with a workforce that has deep roots and long tenure, rather than someone looking to make sweeping changes on day one. Patience, presence, and authentic relationship-building matter as much as operational expertise.