Spandex Operations Manager

The LYCRA Company is a premier supplier of differentiated fiber products from a global manufacturing base with assets in Europe, USA, Mexico, Brazil, China and Singapore.

Our Apparel business works with leading consumer brands, retailers and fabric mills all over the world to leverage our innovative ingredient brand fibers including LYCRA® fiber, COOLMAX® fabric, THERMOLITE® fabric, SUPPLEX® fabric and TACTEL® fiber. The LYCRA Company is a leading supplier in the global apparel markets including ready-to-wear, intimate apparel, swimwear, activewear, outdoor and career apparel.

Location: Waynesboro, VA, USA

Role: As Spandex Operations Manager, you will lead the manufacturing team at the Waynesboro, VA site which includes 24/7/365 operations in Essential Materials, Polymer, Spinning, and Beaming. You will directly manage and develop a team of 9 salaried employees, and a combined team of approximately 120 wage role employees. You will be responsible for communicating expectations, setting performance strategies, maintaining high levels of accountability, with a strong focus on Safety, Health, and Environmental compliance, productivity optimization, and Quality excellence. Your primary work schedule will be Monday-Friday, 8-4:30 but you will have some off-hour interactions with the teams, as required. This is a staff level role, reporting directly to the Plant Manager.

The ideal candidate must be results driven; able to work well under pressure; an excellent communicator with strong planning, organizational and interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively with all personnel regardless of function or level. We are looking for self-starters who can thrive in a team environment working closely with supporting organizations. The candidate should be familiar with, and able to apply, standard manufacturing industry tools such as Manufacturing Best Practices (5S, lean, kaizen, etc.) and drive consistency through “product by standard processes”

Key Job Responsibilities

• Lead by example and serve as a role model for all forms and levels of compliance.
• Own and drive safety performance and culture to ensure safety is the number one priority and employees are aligned in putting safety first.
• Initiate plans and processes which minimize manufacturing costs through effective utilization of manpower, equipment, facilities, materials, and capital. Assure attainment of business objectives and production schedules while ensuring product standards will exceed customers’ expectations.
• Staff roles with the right people. Quickly assess performance or capability gaps and take corrective action.
• Set high Operations Excellence standards and maintain accountability within area of responsibility.
• Understand the key drivers of profitability. Identify and implement opportunities to continuously create economic value.
• Develop key measures to drive improvement and motivate the organization.
• Effectively communicate progress, plans and issues with site operations leadership and the commercial business team as required.
• Challenge and mentor the team in the effective use Root Cause Analysis to identify system failures and gaps.

Qualifications (Required)

• Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of management experience OR 8+ years of management experience, in a manufacturing environment.
• Excellent critical thinking and observational skills. Ability to understand a complex issue and distill it into defined actions to resolve.
• Track record in driving improvement in a manufacturing operation
• Experience in using Microsoft Office tools in communication and analysis.

Qualifications (Preferred)

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or another technical field
• Prior experience managing supervisors, engineers, etc.
• Technical skills to troubleshoot complex processes and equipment
• Experience in using data to identify opportunities and drive improvement
• Knowledge of polymerization and/or spinning operations
• Familiarity with enterprise systems, specifically SAP

We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.