Plant Manager

Description

Position Overview

Acutec Precision Aerospace is seeking an experienced and motivated internal leader to advance into the role of Plant Manager at our St. Stephen, South Carolina facility. This position is responsible for leading all aspects of our aerospace machining operations, ensuring the highest standards of safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance.

The ideal candidate will have a strong technical background, particularly with CNC lathes and complex setups—and a deep appreciation and willingness to learn of Acutec’s internal processes, systems, and employee-ownership culture. This is a key opportunity for a proven leader to build upon Acutec’s foundation of excellence, develop our people, and drive sustainable growth through quality, efficiency, and teamwork.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership: Lead day-to-day operations to achieve company goals for safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance.
• Internal Process Mastery: Apply detailed knowledge of Acutec’s machining, scheduling, and quality systems to ensure consistency and continuous improvement.
• Quality Commitment: Uphold Acutec’s “Critical Parts: Better Process, Always Precise” quality system by ensuring all operations meet AS9100D, AS13100, customer, and internal quality standards.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive lean manufacturing and process improvement initiatives to reduce waste, improve flow, and increase throughput.
• Technical Expertise: Provide hands-on technical leadership in CNC machining, with emphasis on lathe operations, setup optimization, tooling development, and process stability.
• Future Technology Focus: Lead the site’s transition and growth into Swiss-style machining capabilities, supporting equipment selection, training, and process development for future production programs.
• Team Development: Mentor, train, and empower supervisors, programmers, and machinists to strengthen technical depth and leadership capability across the plant.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Production Planning to ensure seamless production flow and on-time delivery.
• Resource & Equipment Management: Oversee machine utilization, preventive maintenance, and capital planning to sustain production capacity and reliability.
• Data-Driven Performance: Monitor and drive improvement in key metrics—TPE (Throughput Efficiency) and OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)—to ensure data-based decision making and measurable performance gains.
• Safety Leadership: Lead by example to promote a proactive, zero-injury safety culture across all departments.

Key Roles

• Lead, Manage and Hold others accountable, communicate, educate, and develop team leaders
• Ensure delivery, quality, and efficiency; oversee manufacturing strategy of the St. Stephen, SC facility
• Coordinate budgeting, scheduling, capacity planning, and RCCA's implemented and sustained
• Problem solving, removing obstacles, innovation and drive lean culture

Requirements

Qualifications

• Proven leadership or management experience.
• Strong understanding of high-mix aerospace processes, production systems, and customer expectations.
• Technical expertise in CNC machining, particularly with lathes and complex setups.
• Experience or interest in developing and supporting Swiss machining operations.
• Demonstrated success in Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with ERP, production tracking systems, and data analytics.
• Commitment to maintaining high standards of quality, efficiency, and employee engagement.

Core Competencies

• Quality-Focused and Process-Driven
• Proactive Data-Driven Decision Making (TPE & OEE)
• Technical Machining Expertise
• Lean / Continuous Improvement Leadership
• Team Development and Coaching
• Clear, Constructive Communication
• Accountability and Results Orientation

Growth Opportunity

This position represents a key leadership position within Acutec Precision Aerospace. The selected individual will play a critical role in driving performance, developing our teams, and advancing Acutec’s long-term strategy of operational excellence — including the expansion of advanced Swiss machining capabilities at the St. Stephen facility.