Plant Manager

SUMMARY

We are seeking an accomplished Plant Manager to lead all operations within a tissue and paper manufacturing facility in the Rockingham, North Carolina area. This highly visible leadership role is responsible for safety, quality, production, reliability, financial performance, and talent development. The ideal candidate brings deep papermaking expertise, proven leadership of paper machines, and a track record of improving underperforming operations through disciplined execution, data-driven problem-solving, and strong team development.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead all plant operations to achieve safety, quality, production, and financial objectives.
• Drive a strong safety culture through visible leadership, clear expectations, and accountability at every level of the organization.
• Improve equipment reliability through preventive and predictive maintenance, disciplined planning and scheduling, and root cause analysis.
• Optimize paper machine performance, equipment uptime, productivity, and product quality.
• Manage plant financial performance, including cost per ton, labor, maintenance, fiber, chemical, and energy costs.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives using data-driven problem-solving methods to deliver measurable operational and financial results.
• Develop and strengthen leadership, technical, and hourly teams through coaching, accountability, succession planning, and employee development.
• Build and execute recovery plans for underperforming operations, establishing clear priorities, milestones, ownership, and measurable business impact.

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing, or a related field preferred.
• 10-15+ years of manufacturing leadership experience.
• Must have paper manufacturing industry experience and demonstrated technical knowledge of paper machine operations.
• Proven experience leading paper machine operations and delivering sustainable performance improvements.
• Demonstrated success managing operational turnarounds and improving underperforming facilities.
• Strong knowledge of papermaking processes, maintenance and reliability systems, continuous improvement, and plant financial management.
• Proven ability to lead large teams, develop talent, drive accountability, and successfully guide organizational change.