Plant Manager- Jessica Charles

Reports To: VP of Manufacturing

Direct Reports: 4 (Production Manager, Admin/Planning, Purchasing, Product Development)

Total Team Oversight: Up to 100 (Direct, Indirect, and Dotted-line)

Position Summary

The Plant Manager is the senior operational leader responsible for all aspects of upholstery manufacturing at the Jessica Charles facility. This role drives safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance and the candidate will partner with a veteran Production Manager to bridge bench-made upholstery excellence with modern systems.

Key Responsibilities

Operational & Strategic Leadership

• Lead daily plant operations to achieve safety, quality, delivery, and cost targets, including operating profit margin and on time delivery adherence.
• Develop and execute production plans aligned with sales demand and capacity
• Drive on-time order fulfillment and throughput performance; monitor KPIs including labor efficiency, rework, and productivity.
• Lead the brand's digital transformation from legacy systems to SAP.
• Partner with the VP of Manufacturing to ensure a seamless leadership transition and long-term brand stability.

Manufacturing Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Lead Continuous Improvement initiatives to improve workflow, reduce waste, and increase throughput.
• Manage the development and maintenance of bill of materials, labor standards, and capacity planning tools across all departments.
• Ensure BOM and routing accuracy aligned with actual production processes to support ERP data integrity.
• Identify bottlenecks and implement sustainable process improvements; shift "heavy lifting" from individuals to scalable departmental systems.
• Manage plant budget and cost structure in alignment with corporate targets; analyze gross margin drivers including labor efficiency and material utilization.
• Partner with Finance to ensure costing accuracy, operational transparency, and ERP-driven financial reporting.
• Support capital expenditure planning and ROI evaluation.

Quality & Product Integrity

• Maintain 95%+ First Pass Yield (FPY), ensuring artisanal standards meet luxury designer and trade channel expectations.
• Reduce external claims and decrease rework/scrap through technical root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Partner with Product Development and Engineering to support new product launches.

Safety & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with OSHA, environmental regulations, and company safety standards; lead plant safety initiatives and foster a safety-first culture.
• Partner with Human Resources to ensure compliance with employment law, company policies, and workforce best practices.

People Leadership & Culture

• Lead, coach, and develop the plant leadership team; build bench strength and succession plans for key roles.
• Foster a culture where data-driven problem-solving replaces manual fixes.
• Support workforce development initiatives and engagement programs.
• Partner cross-functionally with Human Resources, Finance, Sales, and Product Development to align plant performance with corporate financial goals and brand standards.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of leadership experience in upholstery or furniture manufacturing; 7+ years preferred for candidates with a technical or engineering background.
• Strong knowledge of upholstery construction, materials, and production flow.
• Demonstrated experience implementing continuous improvement methodologies.
• Proven experience leading ERP implementations (SAP or similar)
• Expertise in labor standards development, BOM integrity, and capacity planning.
• Experience leading 75–100+ associates in a manufacturing environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or Business Operations preferred; equivalent experience considered.

Competencies

• Operational Discipline
• Change Leadership
• Continuous Improvement Mindset
• Financial Acumen
• Talent Development
• Cross-Functional Collaboration