Manufacturing Plant Head

Manufacturing Plant Head

About the Role

The company is scaling up electrospun nanofiber membrane production, and we are looking for a Manufacturing / Plant Head to own the plant end-to-end. You will run day-to-day operations across production, maintenance, quality, and materials; build the leadership bench beneath you; and turn a growing specialty-materials line into a disciplined, metrics-driven plant. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone equally comfortable on the production floor and in front of management.

Key Responsibilities

Plant Operations

· Own total plant performance — output, yield, uptime, cost per unit, and on-time delivery against the production plan.

· Direct daily manufacturing operations across electrospinning, converting, finishing, packaging, and utilities.

· Translate the sales and production forecast into executable line schedules, manpower plans, and equipment loading.

· Control plant operating expenses and manage the plant budget, including capital requests for equipment and facility upgrades.

· Drive process stability and repeatability on precision, parameter-sensitive equipment.

People and Leadership

· Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, team leaders, and shift leaders; build a leadership bench that can run the plant without you on the floor.

· Set performance expectations, conduct reviews, and manage skills matrices, cross-training, and succession for critical roles.

· Instil a culture of accountability, discipline, and 5S housekeeping across all shifts.

· Assume direct supervision of production in the absence of the Production Supervisor.

Quality, Safety, and Compliance

· Enforce adherence to product specifications, SOPs, and quality standards; partner with QA/QC on deviations, root-cause analysis, and corrective action.

· Champion occupational safety, chemical handling, and environmental compliance in line with DOLE, DENR, and local regulatory requirements.

· Maintain audit readiness for ISO 9001 (and ISO 14001 / 45001 where applicable) and customer or regulatory plant audits.

Supply Chain and Materials

· Monitor inventory of polymers, solvents, substrates, and consumables; initiate and follow through on purchase requests to prevent line stoppages.

· Coordinate with procurement, warehouse, and logistics on material availability, incoming quality, and finished-goods dispatch.

· Work with suppliers and toll partners on material qualification, lead times, and cost-reduction opportunities.

Continuous Improvement and Reporting

· Assess current production efficiency and management practices, identify gaps, recommend improvements, and implement them to completion.

· Establish reporting standards and dashboards that measure OEE, scrap and rework, downtime, labour productivity, and cost.

· Lead Kaizen, 5S, and Lean or Six Sigma initiatives and problem-solving activities on the floor.

· Support scale-up of new products and processes from pilot to commercial production together with R&D and Engineering.

· Represent the plant in management, production, and cross-functional meetings and report performance to senior leadership.

Qualifications

· Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, or Materials Engineering, or a related technical field.

· At least 7 years of progressive manufacturing or production experience, including 3 or more years leading a plant, production department, or multiple shifts.

· Industry background preferably in specialty chemicals, advanced or technical materials, nonwovens, membranes or filtration, coatings, electronics or electrical manufacturing, or a comparable precision process industry — including suppliers and converters within these supply chains.

· Proven ownership of full plant operations: multiple departments, manpower planning, budgeting, and strategic planning.

· Strong command of production planning, inventory and materials control, maintenance coordination, and KPI-based performance management.

· Working knowledge of quality management systems (ISO 9001) and occupational safety and environmental regulations in the Philippines.

· Demonstrated ability to develop supervisors and team leaders and to lead change on the floor.

· Comfortable with data: Excel or ERP-based reporting, cost analysis, and efficiency metrics.

· Willing to work on-site in Dasmariñas, Cavite, with flexibility to support shift operations.

Preferred / Advantageous

· Exposure to electrospinning, nanofiber, or other thin-film and coating technologies, or to their upstream polymer and solvent supply chain.

· Experience scaling a process from pilot or R&D into commercial production.

· Lean, Six Sigma (Green or Black Belt), TPM, or Kaizen certification or equivalent hands-on track record.

· Experience in an export-oriented or PEZA-registered manufacturing environment.

Work Set up:

• Dayshift (6 days/week)
• Onsite
• Dasmariñas, Cavite

By Applying, you give consent to collect, store, and/or process personal and/or sensitive information for the purpose of recruitment and employment may it be internal to Cobden & Carter International and/or to its clients.