Overview Are you someone who is passionate, motivated, and driven to make a difference? If so, MSA Safety is the perfect fit for your career. At MSA, SAFETY is who we are AND it is what we do. We are a purpose-driven company committed to deploying innovation and technology to deliver on our Mission to help protect people and assets all around the world. We continue to be relentless in our pursuit of solving our customers greatest problems so they can go home safe each and every day. Are you in? Read on for more details about this particular role. Responsibilities As the Director of Operations Strategy, you will lead the innovation and development of manufacturing strategies at MSA. In this role, you will serve as the overall architect of the manufacturing network for operations globally and will develop a comprehensive strategy that articulates a vision for ‘what we make’ and ‘where we will make ’. You will build and lead a team of highly effective project and program managers/ leaders with expertise in Industrial Engineering, Project Management, and Global Manufacturing Operations & Supply Chains who possess a broad level of business acumen. We seek an established leader with a demonstrated track record of creating a vision, setting strategy, and building high performance teams to execute them in line with the MSA mission and values. This person will be an integral part of MSA’s leadership team that defines and executes on the company’s overall vision and shapes the company’s culture. The role will report directly to the Vice President of MissionOPS in a cross-cultural / multi-regional setting to identify, plan, direct, and implement consistent disciplined global standards, metrics, strategies, processes, and tools. This position must successfully build relationships with internal key stakeholders to drive cross-functional alignment and execution and develop talent on a global basis. Manufacturing Footprint Optimization Identify opportunities that enable manufacturing of MSA products to be optimally located versus the customer base, the supplier base, the skilled labor base with access to the technologies that deliver an overall best cost, most sustainable outcome. Partner and align with the finance team to develop robust financial models for IRR / NPV analysis. Ensure cross-functional and cross-regional alignment of projects and goals, and ongoing alignment of both to manufacturing, product, and business strategies. Ensure appropriate resources are available to support projects and goals (including resources outside of MissionOPS, outside MSA). Drive a comprehensive risk register of all business risks and mitigations that can effect the footprint strategy. Have business continuity plans established. Define deployment roadmap and timelines to implement footprint optimization projects and be accountable for successful execution on time and in budget. Primary responsibility for communicating needs, status, and progress of major projects to cross-functional leaders and the MissionOPS and Executive Leadership Teams. Technology Transfers / Site Selection Identify tech transfer opportunities that deliver advantageous outcomes at the receiving site with respect to safety, quality, delivery, cost, throughput, flexibility and working capital efficiency. Ensure standard processes and tools are developed, deployed, and continuously improved to ensure tech transfers are executed in a consistent manner that delivers on time, in budget results. Demonstrate robust insource vs. outsource and make vs. buy evaluations. Build an agile site selection process that retains flexibility to adapt decision-based criteria and change selections, if needed, based on economic, political, and corporate strategic developments. Partner with MissionOPS leadership to develop selection and transfer processes that account for future technology needs, automation, and digitization opportunities as well as the addition of heavily weighted environmental sustainability criteria Maintain an accurate database of manufacturing location parameters; physical size, space utilization, operational costs, headcount, volume, hours produced, core competencies etc. Acquisition Due Diligence / Acquisition Integration Support Corporate Development by leading MissionOPS due diligence processes for target companies. Identify diligence team members to co-opt whose acumen, product & technology competence can deliver clear risks vs. opportunity synopses in condensed time frames. Lead acquisition integration efforts for MissionOPS detailing for executives and peers the short-, medium- and long-term strategies to maximize cost synergies. Define and deploy a comprehensive tactical playbook that elaborates the actions and timelines for harmonious integration of all operations functions. Product & SKU Vitality Develop a process to better understand Product / SKU profitability. Identify and pursue opportunities to enhance gross margin on strategic products. Identify and pursue opportunities to rationalize non-strategic and unprofitable products. Transformation Lead the MissionOPS journey to build a foundation for business growth and innovation where technology and process enablers support a connected customer and employee experience (Catalyst). Act as the liaison between key stakeholders. Participate in cross-functional transformation team meetings between the business, functional and technical experts to connect the dots and understand the MissionOPS needs. Establish clear actions and deliverables that align with operational needs. Access and ensure both technological and organizational readiness for the transformation in the MissionOPS organization. Communicate transformation goals, progress, and risks to MissionOPS leadership. Identify transformation risks, issues and opportunities for improvements. Proactively address them. Qualifications Experience required: 15 years of experience (10 in a leadership role) 10 years manufacturing and assembly experience of complex electromechanical products that rely on some core materials technology; experience should span both internally manufactured and contract manufactured assemblies and include experience managing an operating line. Operations leadership experience overseeing multiple plants. Plant Manager experience. MS degree may be substituted for up to 2 years of relevant experience. PhD may be substituted for up to 4 years of equivalent experience. Line design, installation, commissioning, and production ramp Demonstrated experience in driving down manufacturing costs while maintaining or improving product quality for complex electromechanical assemblies Experience managing distributed teams (nationally, internationally) Education required: Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline, preferably from an ABET accredited program, or a Bachelor’s degree in a related field Education preferred: Advanced degree PMP (Project Management Professional) Continuing education in management studies Travel: Estimated 30% Travel may vary depending on home location #LI-KH2