General Manager

Job Description

Position Summary

The General Manager is responsible for leading and coordinating all operational, engineering, quality, planning, scheduling, supply chain, facility, compliance, and business performance activities of the organization. Reporting directly to the Business Leader, this role ensures that operations are executed safely, efficiently, profitably, and in alignment with customer commitments, corporate objectives, applicable legislation, and internal policies.

The General Manager provides leadership to department managers and works closely with Sales, Finance, Human Resources, and executive leadership to align operational capabilities with business strategy, customer demand, workforce needs, financial performance, and continuous improvement priorities.

Primary Purpose

• Lead daily and long-term business operations with accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, compliance, and profitability.
• Ensure production, engineering, quality, operations, planning, scheduling, logistics, purchasing, inventory, and facility activities are aligned.
• Reinforce corporate policies, local legislation, ethical business practices, operational discipline, and accountability across all departments.
• Drive continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, accurate reporting, and sustainable business performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic leadership: Support the Business Leader in developing and executing company strategy, business priorities, budgets, forecasts, capacity plans, investment recommendations, and departmental objectives.
• Operational management: Lead Production, Engineering, Quality, Operations, Planning, Scheduling, Supply Chain, Facilities, and Administration to ensure coordinated execution and timely resolution of cross-functional issues.
• Planning and scheduling: Oversee realistic production planning, master scheduling, backlog review, work order readiness, capacity analysis, material availability, engineering release dates, quality requirements, labor planning, and customer delivery commitments.
• Production and engineering: Ensure manufacturing activities meet safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and efficiency objectives while engineering supports product quality, technical documentation, innovation, process improvement, change management, and production needs.
• Quality and compliance: Ensure the effectiveness of the quality management system, compliance with applicable standards, customer specifications, certifications, audits, inspections, corrective actions, documentation requirements, and regulatory expectations.
• Supply chain and inventory: Oversee purchasing, supplier management, material planning, logistics, stores, inventory accuracy, stock levels, inventory turns, supplier performance, cost reduction, and supply risk mitigation.
• Financial performance: Collaborate with the Controller to manage budgets, labor costs, material costs, overhead, profitability, capital expenditure planning, return-on-investment evaluations, and responsible use of company assets.
• Facilities and contractors: Manage building operations, facility maintenance, utilities, infrastructure, contractors, landlords, inspectors, service providers, maintenance agreements, inspections, and facility improvement projects.
• Health, safety, environmental and business continuity: Promote a strong safety culture, ensure incidents and hazards are investigated, support environmental practices, and ensure emergency response, crisis management, business continuity, evacuation, and disaster recovery plans are maintained, communicated, and tested.
• Human resources leadership: Work with Human Resources to support workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, training, succession planning, performance management, employee engagement, leadership development, policy application, and conflict resolution.
• Customer and sales support: Partner with Sales to ensure operational capabilities support customer needs, forecasts, delivery expectations, lead times, escalations, technical reviews, and major project requirements.
• Continuous improvement and reporting: Lead improvement initiatives across departments, prioritize projects related to safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, customer satisfaction, waste reduction, and process standardization, and provide regular KPI-based reports to the CEO and leadership team covering performance, risks, constraints, corrective actions, and recommended decisions.

Decision-Making Authority

• Direct operational activities across reporting departments and establish priorities, goals, performance expectations, and accountability systems.
• Approve operational expenditures within assigned authorization limits (DOA) and manage contractors or service providers within approved company processes.
• Implement operational policies, procedures, communication routines, reporting practices, and continuous improvement actions.
• Recommend capital investments, staffing plans, organizational changes, strategic initiatives, and major corrective actions to the CEO.

Key Performance Indicators

Area

Expected Focus

Financial Performance

Revenue, gross margin, EBITDA, spending control, profitability, and responsible asset management.

Operations and Delivery

On-time delivery, production efficiency, capacity utilization, backlog performance, schedule adherence, and material readiness.

Quality and Compliance

Customer complaints, nonconformances, audit findings, certification readiness, and regulatory compliance.

People, Safety and Facilities

Safety incidents, training completion, engagement, turnover, absenteeism, maintenance uptime, contractor performance, and emergency preparedness.

Continuous Improvement and Reporting

Improvement projects completed, savings achieved, waste reduction, KPI reporting accuracy, action closure, and timely leadership reporting.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications and Competencies

• Operations Management, Manufacturing Management, or a related field; professional engineering designation, Lean/Six Sigma, operations, or project management certification considered an asset.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive management experience in manufacturing, industrial operations, engineering, or a related environment, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership role with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated experience managing production, engineering, quality, supply chain, planning, scheduling, facilities, compliance, financial performance, ERP/MRP systems, inventory control, and operational KPIs.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing operations, planning and scheduling, quality systems, occupational health and safety, environmental requirements, budgeting, cost control, contract management, capital expenditures, continuous improvement, root-cause analysis, Lean practices, and change management.
• Leadership competencies include strategic thinking, business judgment, communication, coaching, accountability, financial acumen, problem solving, risk management, customer focus, negotiation, collaboration, ethical conduct, and the ability to manage competing priorities under pressure.

Additional Information

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

We believe that different perspectives and backgrounds are what make a company flourish. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment regardless of color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, economic status, disability, age, or any other legally protected characteristics. We are proud to be an inclusive company with values grounded in equality and ethics, where we celebrate, support, and embrace diversity.

At no time during the hiring process will Smiths Group, nor any of our recruitment partners ever request payment to enable participation – including, but not limited to, interviews or testing. Avoid fraudulent requests by applying jobs directly through our career’s website (Careers - Smiths Group plc)