Director of Operations

This is not a maintenance role. It's a builder's and a doer's role. The person who takes this seat owns end-to-end operational performance across all four of our US sites from day one (plant layout, workflow design, and production scheduling) with a continuous improvement mindset, while building strong site managers who can own their own sites with real autonomy. Being close to the work and developing the people doing it aren't in tension; the best operators do both. This role partners closely, as a peer, with our Supply Chain Director to keep capacity planning and the SIOP cycle tightly integrated with floor-level realities.

■ W H A T   Y O U ' L L   O W N

Operations, Warehousing & Production — The Core of This Role

—  Own end-to-end operational performance across all four US sites (MN, NC, CA, AL) from day one — warehousing, distribution, work order execution, and light manufacturing/assembly

—  Personally engage in plant floor design, facility layouts, workflow optimization, and equipment uptime across the network

—  Ensure 97%+ on-time performance (OTSIF) and adherence to quality, cost, and safety standards network-wide

—  Optimize labor planning and capacity utilization at the site level — this is a role that spends real time on the floor, not just in dashboards

Production Scheduling

—  Convert the supply plan into daily and weekly work sequences at each site

—  Prioritize orders to protect OTIF performance, driving OTSIF, late shipments, inventory position, and operating cost KPIs

Operational Excellence — Lean / CI / Standard Work

—  Build a continuous improvement culture and practice across the team — coaching site managers and their teams to lead root cause analysis and structured problem-solving themselves

—  Harmonize processes across all four sites and reduce waiting and rework, driving safety, OTSIF, and quality KPIs

—  Evaluate and implement systems, capital investments, and automation opportunities that strengthen operational scalability

Strategic & Forward-Looking Leadership

—  Act as the operational engine behind where HOEM is headed — translating the company's growth and strategic priorities into the floor-level capability, capacity, and discipline required to deliver them, both today and as the business scales

—  Lead cross-functional alignment across Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and Sales to ensure integrated planning and execution

—  Partner with the President on operational KPIs, reporting rhythms, and the performance standards that define what "good" looks like across sites

Capacity Planning & SIOP (Partnership with Supply Chain)

—  Model bagging/kitting/assembly throughput and signal when labor or equipment capacity must change

—  Actively participate in the full, monthly SIOP cycle — aligning forecast, supply, capacity, finance, and operations into a single, unified plan

—  Jointly own SIOP-driven KPIs with the Supply Chain Director: forecast accuracy, inventory position, OTSIF, and revenue plan adherence

Leadership & Talent

—  Build and develop a high-performing team with clear accountability, succession depth, and a culture of safety, engagement, and operational ownership

■ W H A T   W E ' R E   L O O K I N G   F O R

—  15+ years of progressive operations leadership in value-added distribution, light manufacturing, or assembly-oriented environments — multi-site preferred

—  Demonstrated recent, direct floor-level leadership — regularly present on the production/warehouse floor, personally engaged in plant layout and workflow design, not solely directing through layers of site management

—  A track record you can point to: OTD improvement, labor efficiency gains, cost reduction, throughput

—  Comfort leading in close partnership with a Supply Chain function, rather than owning day-to-day supply chain execution personally

—  Strong ERP background (D365 preferred) and lean/CI implementation experience

—  A developer of people, not just processes — someone who builds trust across functions and levels, and grows strong, autonomous site leaders

—  Lean/Six Sigma certification a plus; sealing, rubber, or industrial products experience a bonus

■ W H A T   W E   O F F E R

Health & Wellbeing

—  Three PPO medical plan options (Florida Blue), Dental with preventive care covered at 100% (Principal), and Vision at no cost to you (EyeMed)

—  FSA for healthcare and dependent care expenses (HealthEquity)

—  Company-paid Short-Term Disability and Basic Life & AD&D ($50,000) — at no cost to you

—  EAP (LifeCare), supplemental accident, critical illness, hospital, and cancer plans available

Retirement

—  401(k) through Empower with company match up to 4% (50% match on first 6%, 25% match on 7–10%), Roth option, and auto-enrollment starting at 6%

Time Away

—  Generous PTO, 8 company holidays, and a floating holiday

The way we work

—  Flexible work environment with direct access to leadership and real autonomy to get things done

—  Our colleagues consistently tell us: the people are the reason they stay, and the work feels meaningful

—  CORE values — Courage, Ownership, Respect, Excellence — aren't wall art. They shape how decisions get made

■ A B O U T   H E R C U L E S   O E M

We're a value-added distributor and technical solutions provider for global manufacturers, part of Diploma PLC (FTSE 100) through its North America Seals sector. We have a strong value proposition built on engineering depth and customer experience from spec to fulfillment.

We run lean, move fast, and operate with real autonomy.

Hercules OEM is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.