Plant Manager

UFP Industries is a manufacturing company built on hard work, an entrepreneurial spirit, integrity, and pride in the work we do. Our teammates collaborate, solve problems, take ownership of results, and share in the company’s success.

ProWood, a UFP Retail Solutions brand, is a leading manufacturer and treater of pressure-treated lumber. We provide dependable wood products built for strength, consistency, durability, and real-world performance.

General Summary

The Plant Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, management, and performance of the ProWood manufacturing facility in Harrisonville, Missouri. This position provides strategic and hands-on leadership for plant operations while ensuring the facility meets its safety, quality, service, productivity, cost, and profitability objectives.

The Plant Manager leads through department managers and supervisors and is accountable for production, maintenance, shipping, inventory, yard operations, staffing, financial performance, asset protection, and regulatory compliance. This position works under the general direction of the Regional Director of Operations or Director of Operations.

The successful candidate will be a visible, accountable leader who develops people, uses operational and financial data to make decisions, and establishes a culture of safety, continuous improvement, teamwork, and ownership.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Safety and Compliance

• Provides visible leadership and establishes safety as the plant’s highest operational priority.

• Ensures plant operations comply with UFP safety policies, OSHA requirements, environmental regulations, and applicable federal, state, and local laws.

• Participates as an active member of the plant Safety Committee and holds plant leadership accountable for completing safety initiatives, inspections, training, and corrective actions.

• Ensures employees receive appropriate safety training, personal protective equipment, and operating instructions.

• Investigates safety incidents, identifies root causes, and ensures timely corrective and preventive action.

• Ensures compliance with applicable product-treatment, quality, environmental, chemical-handling, and recordkeeping requirements.

Plant Leadership and Team Development

• Leads, staffs, develops, and coaches the plant management and supervisory teams.

• Establishes clear performance expectations and ensures leaders are accountable for safety, quality, productivity, service, cost, and employee development.

• Evaluates employee performance and initiates coaching, recognition, development plans, or corrective action as appropriate.

• Partners with Human Resources to recruit, retain, train, and develop a qualified workforce.

• Ensures the plant is appropriately staffed to meet production schedules, customer commitments, and business objectives.

• Builds a culture of accountability, collaboration, communication, continuous improvement, and respect.

• Develops succession plans and creates growth opportunities for high-performing teammates.

Production and Operational Performance

• Directs daily plant operations to achieve production, quality, delivery, cost, and profitability goals.

• Develops or approves master production and shipping schedules based on customer requirements, labor availability, inventory, equipment capacity, and business priorities.

• Coordinates production activities across shifts and departments to maintain efficient product flow and consistent operating standards.

• Monitors production output, labor efficiency, throughput, downtime, cuts, yields, rework, and scrap.

• Uses operational data to identify performance gaps, determine root causes, and implement corrective actions.

• Ensures accurate and timely entry of production, labor, inventory, downtime, and other operating information into company systems.

• Establishes and monitors plant key performance indicators and communicates results to plant leadership and regional management.

• Leads operational improvement initiatives that increase capacity, reduce waste, improve product flow, strengthen quality, and lower operating costs.

• Promotes standardized work, workplace organization, preventive problem-solving, and other continuous-improvement practices.

Quality and Customer Service

• Establishes and maintains quality expectations for plant operations and finished products.

• Ensures products are manufactured, treated, handled, stored, and shipped according to company specifications and applicable quality standards.

• Reviews quality performance, customer concerns, claims, rework, and nonconforming material.

• Leads corrective-action and quality-improvement initiatives to prevent recurring issues.

• Partners with Sales, Purchasing, Transportation, and other functions to meet customer requirements and resolve service or product concerns.

• Balances production efficiency with product quality, customer service, and on-time delivery.

Financial Management

• Reviews plant profit-and-loss statements, budgets, forecasts, operating reports, and other financial documents.

• Monitors expenses and compares actual financial and operational performance against budget and established goals.

• Identifies unfavorable trends and initiates timely corrective action.

• Develops and executes plans to improve plant profitability, working capital, productivity, and asset utilization.

• Assists in developing capital expenditure requests and recommendations.

• Evaluates capital needs based on safety, capacity, reliability, quality, productivity, and return on investment.

• Ensures plant assets are properly maintained, managed, used, and safeguarded.

Inventory, Shipping, and Yard Operations

• Oversees raw material, work-in-process, and finished-goods inventory.

• Coordinates inventory requirements with Purchasing, Sales, Production, and regional management while supporting inventory-level and turnover objectives.

• Ensures inventory transactions are accurate and month-end physical inventories are properly planned and completed.

• Monitors inventory accuracy, material usage, loss, damage, aging, and excess stock.

• Ensures shipping activities support customer requirements, trailer and truck capacities, inventory availability, and production schedules.

• Ensures the plant yard is safe, organized, properly maintained, and arranged for efficient material flow, storage, loading, and unloading.

• Maintains appropriate controls for receiving, storing, moving, and shipping lumber and related materials.

Maintenance and Facility Management

• Provides leadership and oversight for the Maintenance Department.

• Ensures preventive and predictive maintenance programs support equipment reliability, safety, product quality, and production goals.

• Reviews equipment downtime, recurring failures, maintenance costs, and work-order completion.

• Prioritizes repairs and improvement projects based on operational risk and business impact.

• Ensures buildings, treatment systems, manufacturing equipment, mobile equipment, utilities, and grounds are properly maintained.

• Coordinates plant shutdowns, major repairs, installations, and capital projects as required.

Communication and Administration

• Communicates plant priorities, performance, challenges, and corrective-action plans to employees and leadership.

• Conducts regular operating reviews with plant managers and supervisors.

• Collaborates with Human Resources, Safety, Finance, Purchasing, Sales, Transportation, Quality, and regional operations leadership.

• Prepares and submits operational, financial, safety, inventory, production, and management reports as required.

• Ensures plant policies, records, documentation, and operating procedures are current and consistently followed.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Required

• High school diploma or equivalent.

• Minimum of two years of experience as a Production Manager, Operations Manager, or equivalent manufacturing leader.

• Demonstrated experience leading supervisors, managers, or multiple operational departments.

• Experience managing production schedules, staffing, quality, inventory, maintenance, shipping, and operational performance.

• Working knowledge of manufacturing financials, including budgets, operating expenses, cost control, and profit-and-loss statements.

• Ability to analyze production and financial data and translate findings into measurable actions.

• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word, and Outlook.

• Working knowledge of shipping practices and commercial truck and trailer capacity considerations.

• Strong leadership, coaching, communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to work flexible hours as operational needs require.

• Ability to obtain and maintain company-required forklift operator certification.

Preferred

• Bachelor’s degree in business, operations management, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, or a related field.

• Five or more years of progressive manufacturing or plant-operations leadership experience.

• Experience in lumber, wood products, pressure-treated lumber, building materials, or another high-volume manufacturing environment.

• Experience overseeing maintenance, yard operations, inventory control, and shipping functions.

• Experience applying Lean manufacturing, root-cause analysis, standardized work, or other continuous-improvement methods.

• Knowledge of UFP Industries’ organization, culture, operating systems, and product lines.

• Experience working in an entrepreneurial, performance-driven manufacturing organization.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to lead through managers and supervisors while remaining visible and engaged in daily plant operations.

• Strong business judgment and understanding of how safety, quality, service, productivity, inventory, and cost affect plant profitability.

• Ability to set priorities and make sound decisions in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

• Ability to build accountability while maintaining productive working relationships.

• Strong analytical and root-cause problem-solving abilities.

• Ability to communicate effectively with production employees, plant leadership, customers, vendors, and senior management.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, projects, and deadlines.

• Commitment to employee development, operational discipline, continuous improvement, and workplace safety.

Work Environment

The Plant Manager regularly works in office, manufacturing, warehouse, treatment, shipping, and outdoor yard environments. The position may involve exposure to moving equipment, machinery, noise, dust, weather conditions, treated wood products, and other conditions customary to a lumber manufacturing and treatment operation.

The position requires regular presence throughout the facility and yard, the use of required personal protective equipment, and the ability to safely navigate production and material-storage areas.

What We Offer

UFP Industries offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support employees and their families, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage

• Health Savings Account with company contribution

• 401(k) plan with company match

• Employee stock purchase program with a 15% employee discount

• Company-provided life and disability insurance

• Paid vacation and holidays

• Employee Assistance Program

• Education reimbursement

• Career-development and advancement opportunities

UFP Industries and its subsidiaries and affiliates are equal opportunity employers.