Director of Operations

Location:

Chattanooga, TN

Type:

Full-time, Exempt

Reports To:

Chief Financial & Operating Officer

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Branch Technology exists to create a beautiful built world, impacting a wide variety of industries including construction, aerospace, retail, logistics, and more. Its patented technology utilizes the power of creative design, software, robotic automation, and lean manufacturing to provide solutions to our diverse customer base. Branch is the world leader in large-scale 3D printing. We’re growing rapidly and are attracting top talent and seasoned leaders from 3D printing, software, architecture, robotics, manufacturing, design, material science, and product development.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Director of Operations will be a member of the leadership team, providing oversight of and strategic insights into the company’s factory operations and logistics. The Director of Operations has a strong moral compass and unquestioned integrity, showing humility of spirit and humor when needed. The role requires a combination of inspiring leadership abilities and strong solution-oriented manufacturing skills. This role will take ownership of production throughput, quality, human safety, factory layout, machine repair & maintenance, and factory upkeep. This leader will drive physical process automation in collaboration with the hardware and software engineering teams. Setting high standards for quality and efficiency, this teammate will lead the production and logistics team toward scalable, repeatable, and predictable processes that enable the company to achieve its long-term operational objectives.

Because this person is expected to think and act as a mature business leader, generating excitement, enthusiasm and commitment toward the business mission, vision, values, and goals, the ideal candidate will be exemplary in the following ways:

• Exemplifies and advocates for our six core values: Humble Genius, Other Centered, Relentless Execution, Designed Beauty, Intense Collaboration, Wise Stewardship
• Maturely and wisely leads a team in a fast-growth and decentralized environment, inspiring people toward excellence
• Leads by example, demanding more from themselves than they expect from others
• Builds a culture of accountability to targets in every area of oversight.
• Achieves buy-in from company leaders on new initiatives and strategic priorities
• Accomplishes work accurately, thoroughly, and collaboratively
• Is solutions-oriented and brings a problem-solving mindset to any challenge
• Comprehends technical manufacturing topics
• Thrives when under pressure to deliver against set objectives in stressful situations
• Does not cling to the status quo but can pivot with shifting priorities and/or issues inherent to a fast-growing company
• Demonstrates excellence with written and verbal communication
• Supervises and manages multiple operational projects concurrently
• Has strong interpersonal skills and doesn’t let personal ambition or ego get in the way
• Interacts and leads in a collaborative and open-minded way with company executives and other directors while representing the operations functions
• Identifies and advocates for production capabilities that drive profitability
• Settles for nothing less than uncompromising excellence in quality of end product

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

Overall

• Demonstrate and champion the core value of relentless execution on all projects, whether internal or customer-facing, fostering an environment that embraces innovation and improvement while wholeheartedly rejecting mediocrity.
• In coordination with the people & culture team, recruit and develop high caliber individuals who are equipped – both in attitude and in competency – to handle their duties in our particular context.
• Advocate for compensation justice for all employees in operations and production, balancing the needs and desires of employees with those of the company.
• In coordination with the finance team, manage actual spend against budgets for all areas of oversight.
• Proactively review and improve on data tracking systems within areas of oversight so as to extract information that can be used for valuable decision-making, all with an eye toward accomplishing company goals.
• Assess and provide actionable insight into area performance by defining and monitoring relevant KPIs, data, and metrics.
• Contribute to strategic planning and company leadership meetings as appropriate.

Within Production and Logistics

• Develop the production and logistics managers into key and trustworthy department leaders who competently handle the hour-by-hour responsibilities.
• Ensure production staff are cross-trained so that no functional areas are overly dependent on a small number of employees with specialized training.
• Implement and hold the production department accountable to manufacturing best practices and unwavering high quality standards.
• Develop and maintain key supply chain partnerships and material control systems.
• Provide thought leadership on space planning for operational workflows.
• Implement robust preventative maintenance systems and procedures for all factory machinery and equipment.

Within Quality Control & Safety

• Define, implement, and certify all SOPs, ensuring consistency from production team members executing them day to day.
• Ensure that all safety standards are thoroughly and accurately documented, communicated, and practiced with zero tolerance for safety shortcuts.
• Identify, set, and promote Quality Control standards for the company, minimizing the need for quality remediation and rework.

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCES:

• 7+ years of proven prior experience in manufacturing operations
• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in business, manufacturing, or other relevant field
• Demonstrable competencies with lean manufacturing systems and management
• Experience with industrial machinery in a production environment
• Deep understanding of QA management
• Implementation and management of Toyota Management systems (or similar)
• Effective written and verbal skills
• Demonstrable proficiency with common office software
• Willingness and ability to travel when necessary

PREFERRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCES:

• Professional experience in a startup / growth-stage environment
• Master’s degree in relevant field
• Experience with polymer extrusion
• Experience in a highly automated robotic manufacturing setting