Director of Operations

Confidential Search | Specialty Vehicle Manufacturing

Snyder Executive Search is conducting a confidential search for a Director of Operations with a rapidly growing specialty vehicle manufacturer. The company has been experiencing exceptional growth and, in many ways, still operates with the speed, urgency, and entrepreneurial energy of a start-up.

This is a highly visible leadership role for a manufacturing executive who knows how to bring structure, discipline, and scalable processes to a fast-moving business without slowing down the momentum.

The Opportunity

This company is looking for a proven operations leader to oversee multiple manufacturing facilities across North America. The Director of Operations will be responsible for improving performance, strengthening operational execution, developing leaders, and helping build the systems needed to support continued growth.

This is not a role for someone who wants layers of bureaucracy, slow decisions, or a perfectly polished machine. The right person will be energized by complexity, growth, change, and the opportunity to make a visible impact.

The business needs a leader who can connect strategy to execution, improve margins, drive accountability, and bring consistency across multiple sites while still respecting the pace and urgency of a growth-driven organization.

What You’ll Be Driving

In this role, the Director of Operations will lead the charge on:

• Improving performance across multiple manufacturing facilities, including safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and profitability.
• Creating stronger operating rhythms, metrics, and accountability across the business.
• Driving Lean manufacturing and operational excellence initiatives that actually stick.
• Building a more scalable multi-site manufacturing strategy aligned with customer demand and revenue growth.
• Evaluating capital needs and helping guide major operational investments.
• Improving material flow, inventory performance, working capital, and overall plant efficiency.
• Partnering closely with Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, HR, Engineering, and other key functions to keep execution aligned.
• Strengthening capacity planning, facility utilization, and long-term operational scalability.
• Developing plant and regional operations leaders who can grow with the business.
• Creating practical, measurable improvements without turning the company into a committee-driven science project.

What We’re Looking For

The ideal candidate is a hands-on, strategic manufacturing leader who has successfully led through growth, complexity, and change. This person must be comfortable operating at the enterprise level while still being willing to get close to the floor, understand the issues, and help the team remove barriers.

This role requires someone who can lead leaders, make tough calls, improve financial performance, and create the structure needed for a business that is scaling quickly.

Required Background

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, or a related field required.
• MBA strongly preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
• Significant multi-site manufacturing leadership experience.
• Proven experience leading large cross-functional teams in complex manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated P&L ownership or strong financial accountability.
• Strong capital planning, margin improvement, and operational investment experience.
• Deep Lean, continuous improvement, and operational excellence background.
• Strong analytical, communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to make timely decisions in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities while keeping teams focused on results.

Highly Attractive Experience

Experience in any of the following environments would be especially valuable:

• Specialty vehicle manufacturing
• Commercial vehicles
• Off-highway equipment
• Heavy equipment
• Complex assembly
• Low-volume, high-mix manufacturing
• Multi-site industrial manufacturing
• High-growth or entrepreneurial manufacturing environments

Why This Role Stands Out

This is a rare opportunity to step into a growing manufacturer where the runway is significant and the impact is real. The company needs a leader who can help professionalize the operation, improve execution, develop talent, and build scalable systems for the future.

For the right person, this is a chance to put their fingerprints on a business that is growing fast and still has plenty of room to build. There is no autopilot here, and that is exactly what makes it exciting.