Manufacturing and operations search
Search for the people who own the floor. Plant managers, production managers, quality and ISO specialists, and operations leaders, sourced directly and screened against the technical gates that actually matter.
The gate is the gate
Manufacturing searches fail on specifics, not on generalities. A plant manager role at a greenfield site needs someone who has actually launched a plant, not someone who has run a mature one well. A quality specialist role that lists hands-on CMM is not satisfied by someone who managed a team that used one. Those gates get verified with the candidate directly, on the phone, before anyone is submitted.
The job is to find the people who clear the real gates and are strong where it counts.
Roles placed
- Plant Manager
- General Manager
- Operations Manager
- Director of Operations
- Production Manager
- Production Supervisor
- Manufacturing Engineer
- Quality Manager
- Quality Engineer
- ISO and Compliance Specialist
- Continuous Improvement Manager
- Maintenance Manager
- Supply Chain Manager
- Materials Manager
- EHS Manager
- Engineering Manager
Sectors
Where these searches run
Current and recent searches sit mostly in these four, across the Southeast, and nationally where the role calls for it.
Precast and building products
Precast concrete, prestress, ready-mix, and prefabricated building systems, including greenfield plant launches.
Plastics and injection molding
Injection molding, extrusion, and tooling, along with the quality and ISO work that comes with it.
Metal fabrication and welding
Weld shops, sheet metal, structural fabrication, and automated and robotic welding operations.
Industrial and discrete manufacturing
Multi-shift production floors, assembly, and capital equipment, from single plants to multi-site operations.
Matching the hire to the situation
Running an established plant, turning one around, ramping a line, and standing up a new site are different jobs, and the strongest candidate for one is often the wrong fit for another. The questions that matter are the scope the person actually carried, the headcount and P&L behind it, and whether they have done it at the stage the business is in now.
If you are hiring on the finance side as well, check out our finance and accounting practice.
For hiring managers
What to look for in a manufacturing or operations hire
Four things we settle before sourcing starts.
The scope of the role
What the role owns on day one and what it is expected to own a year out. Those are often different, and the gap shapes which candidates are worth approaching.
Who the role leads and works with
Direct reports, the functions it touches, and who it reports to. Together these shape the profile more than the title does.
The market and the timeline
How deep the local pool is and how quickly the role needs to be filled. Both determine how far the search has to reach and what a realistic slate looks like.
The package
We benchmark the role against the current market in your region before outreach starts.
Questions
Manufacturing recruiting questions
What hiring managers ask before starting a manufacturing search.
How do you reach plant and quality candidates who are not job hunting?
One at a time, and directly. The strongest plant, quality, and operations people are employed, performing, and not browsing job boards, so reaching them means identifying them individually and making contact about a specific role rather than waiting for applications. Most of the people on a slate were not looking when the first conversation happened.
Will candidates actually relocate for a plant role?
Often, and it gets settled early rather than at offer. Plant and quality roles sit in markets where the local pool is thin, so relocation comes up in the first conversation with a candidate: whether they will move at all, what the family situation requires, and what a package would have to cover. Someone who will not actually move does not reach your slate.
Can you screen technical requirements like CMM or weld certifications?
Yes, and those get verified with the candidate directly before anyone is submitted. Hands-on CMM is a common example: plenty of quality candidates have managed a team that used one without ever running a program themselves, and that distinction decides the hire. The same goes for weld certifications, ISO standards, and ERP ownership.
Do you recruit manufacturing talent outside the Southeast?
Yes. The Southeast is the core market and where the network runs deepest, and searches also run nationwide when a role calls for it. That is normal on the plant side, where the pool for a specific technical gate is thin in any one metro and the right person rarely lives nearby.
Hiring, or weighing your next move?
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