Director, Operations

ABOUT PECO

Process Engineering & Equipment Company (PECO) is a full-service designer, manufacturer, and distributor of engineered industrial fluid equipment used in mission-critical HVAC and industrial applications. Operating from our Grand Rapids, Michigan facility with approximately 40 employees, PECO is recognized for quality engineered systems, fabricated skid packages, and pump repair and assembly. As we grow, we are seeking a Director of Operations to bring structure, discipline, and leadership to our shop, fabrication, procurement, and project-execution functions.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Operations owns PECO’s internal operations — shop, fabrication, pump repair, manufacturing, procurement, scheduling, and cost control — and is accountable for delivering every job on time, on budget, and to spec. The Director also holds overall accountability for engineering outcomes, but is not the technical expert: day-to-day technical leadership is owned by the Lead Engineer (technical lead), who reports to the Director. A hands-on, working leader and a member of the Senior Leadership Team, the Director builds the operational systems, SQDC metrics, and project-management discipline the company needs to scale.

OPERATIONS, SHOP & PRODUCTION LEADERSHIP

• Own internal operations end to end — shop floor, fabrication, skid assembly, pump repair and rebuild, and general manufacturing; lead hands-on and from the floor.
• Directly manage shop technicians, fabricators, and pump repair staff; set expectations, give feedback, and hold the team to quality, output, safety, and conduct standards.
• Develop and sustain SQDC metrics (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost); establish baselines, build visual management, and drive continuous improvement.
• Enforce quality and safety standards so work leaves the shop right the first time; document, investigate, and correct incidents and near misses.
• Drive process improvement and efficiency across fabrication, assembly, and pump repair; maintain a clean, organized shop (5S).
• Evaluate equipment, tooling, and facility needs; develop capital expenditure recommendations for President review.

PROCUREMENT, SCHEDULING & COST CONTROL

• Own every job from purchase order to completion — drive scope, schedule, cost, and quality to on-time, on-budget delivery.
• Own procurement — establish a clear material-ordering process with a single point of accountability; manage POs, vendors, pricing, and lead times.
• Own the production schedule; track part delivery and long-lead items, and update the schedule and job log as materials arrive or slip.
• Control cost on every job — track labor and material against plan, manage change orders, and protect margin.
• Maintain appropriate inventory of high-velocity materials, consumables, and critical spares.

ENGINEERING ACCOUNTABILITY

• Hold overall accountability for engineering outcomes — that designs are delivered accurately, on time, and in support of shop throughput — without being the technical expert.
• Manage and support the Senior Engineer (technical lead), who owns design, technical decisions, the engineering schedule, and mentoring of the engineering team.
• Ensure engineering deliverables (drawings, BOMs, specifications) are complete and released to procurement and fabrication on schedule; align priorities and clear roadblocks.
• Partner with the Senior Engineer on engineering staffing, workload, and team development.

SYSTEMS, PROCESS & LEADERSHIP TEAM

• Serve as a full member of the PECO Senior Leadership Team; report SQDC, schedule, and cost performance to the President using data, not anecdote.
• Stand up the project-management function and design scalable systems, processes, and procedures — including leading ERP usage and optimization
• Own the quote-won-to-job-complete handoff across sales, engineering, the shop, and Krum; coordinate timelines, capacity, and scope changes before they become customer problems.
• Close the loop on quoting accuracy — provide labor, material, and lead-time inputs to sales and engineering, and feed actuals back to improve future estimates.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years in manufacturing operations, fabrication, or shop leadership; hands-on experience managing production employees required.
• Experience holding accountability for an engineering or technical team without needing to be the technical expert.
• Demonstrated experience with SQDC or equivalent lean / continuous-improvement frameworks; able to build metrics where none exist.
• Strong procurement, scheduling, and cost-control experience — vendor management, PO creation, capacity planning, and delivery management.
• Project-management experience across multiple concurrent jobs; ERP selection or implementation exposure a plus (PMP or similar a plus).
• Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, engineering, or a related field preferred; proficiency with ERP / order systems (Sage 100 a plus) and Microsoft Office.

DESIRED ATTRIBUTES

• A working leader — earns credibility on the floor by doing the work alongside the team.
• A builder — energized by creating structure, measurement, and process where little exists.
• Highly organized — manages many concurrent jobs and holds others to commitments while modeling the same discipline.
• Strong cross-functional communicator — connects the shop, engineering, sales, and leadership.

Pay: $125,000.00 - $170,000.00 per year

Benefits

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person