Plant Manager

Company: Paxiom (a division of ATS Packaging & Food Technology)

Job Description: Plant Manager

Location: On Site

Type: Full-Time

ATS | OVERVIEW:

ATS is a $2.2B publicly traded (NYSE & TSX: ATS), industry-leading automation solutions provider to many of the world’s most successful companies. ATS uses its extensive knowledge base and global capabilities in custom automation products and value-added services to address the sophisticated manufacturing automation systems and service needs of multinational customers in life sciences, food & beverage, transportation, consumer products, and energy markets. Founded in 1978, ATS employs over 6,500 people at 60 manufacturing facilities and over 80 offices in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and China. 

ATS Packaging & Food Technology (PFT) is an operating segment of ATS that operates 11 companies globally, employing over 1700 team members focused on serving customers in the food, pharma, and consumer goods industries.

Paxiom is an operating division of ATS PFT focused on primary, secondary, and end of line packaging and conveyance for the food and consumer goods industries with sites in Montreal, Miami, Las Vegas, Souderton, PA and Shanghai China.

OVERVIEW:

Reporting directly to the President, Paxiom Group, the Plant Manager is the senior site leader responsible for the overall performance, culture, and operational effectiveness of the facility.

The Plant Manager is accountable for building a high-performing organization that consistently delivers on its commitments to our people, our customers, and the business. The role provides direct leadership to manufacturing, production, planning, materials, quality, Health, Safety & Environment (HS&E), and other assigned functions, while providing strong site leadership across Engineering, Project Management, Finance, HR, Service, and other functions.  This role partners closely with Sales to ensure customer commitments are understood, operationally achievable, and successfully executed.

Success requires more than managing operations. The Plant Manager must develop people, establish clear accountability, build strong cross-functional teamwork, and create a culture where problems are surfaced early, commitments are clear, and leaders work together to deliver results.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Build and lead a high-performing site leadership team, establishing clear roles, expectations, accountability, succession, and development while addressing performance gaps in a timely manner.
• Lead proactive safety and quality cultures, ensuring regulatory and ATS HS&E compliance while developing leaders and employees to identify risks, solve problems at the appropriate level, eliminate root causes, and sustain improvements.
• Create a strong people and performance culture based on trust, teamwork, ownership, continuous learning, and visible leadership engagement throughout the organization.
• Own the overall health and performance of the site, creating a one-team mindset across Operations, Engineering, Project Management, Supply Chain, Quality, Finance, HR, Sales, and Service.
• Establish disciplined operating rhythms and accountability that provide visibility to priorities, commitments, performance, and risks; break down functional silos and ensure issues have clear ownership and follow-through.
• Partner with Sales to translate customer commitments into successful execution, ensuring clear alignment on scope, cost, schedule, technical requirements, risks, capacity, and resources.
• Execute customer projects and deliver the product safely, on time, at the required quality, and within established cost targets, proactively addressing risks before commitments are missed and reinforcing that customer satisfaction is everyone's responsibility.
• Deliver the site's Annual Operating Plan and financial objectives, including revenue, EBIT, working capital, productivity, inventory, and other established targets, while ensuring leaders understand the financial impact of their decisions.
• Build the operational capability and capacity required for profitable growth, translating business demand and bookings into effective labor, material, capacity, and execution plans while improving productivity and operating efficiency.
• Champion the ATS Business Model (ABM) and continuous improvement, using daily management, meaningful KPIs, Lean tools, and structured problem solving to improve Safety, People, Quality, Delivery, and Cost.

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

The Plant Manager will be measured through a balanced scorecard reflecting both business results and leadership effectiveness:

• Safety: Build a proactive safety culture demonstrated through hazard and near-miss reporting, timely corrective-action closure, compliance, and continuous improvement in safety performance.
• People & Leadership: Build and develop a strong site leadership team, strengthen engagement and succession, create clear accountability, and foster cross-functional teamwork, ownership, and consistent follow-through.
• Customer: Deliver on customer commitments, including superb on-time delivery, strong quality performance, and timely resolution of customer issues.
• Operational Excellence: Improve productivity, capacity, schedule attainment, lead time, inventory accuracy, quality, and continuous-improvement performance.
• Financial: Achieve site AOP objectives for revenue, EBIT, working capital, inventory, productivity, and other established financial targets.

Ultimately, success is measured by building a team that identifies problems early, works across functions, takes ownership, makes sound decisions, and consistently delivers results for our people, customers, and business.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree or post-secondary diploma in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business Administration, or a related discipline; equivalent experience considered.
• Over eight (8) years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing or operations, preferably within capital equipment, automation, engineered-to-order, or project-based environments.
• Proven ability to build and develop high-performing teams, establish clear accountability, develop talent, and foster a culture of teamwork, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing operations, planning, supply chain, inventory, quality, safety, and ERP/MRP systems, with demonstrated application of Lean and structured problem solving.
• Demonstrated business and financial acumen, with an understanding of the operational drivers of revenue, EBIT, working capital, productivity, capacity, and capital investment.
• Effective leadership presence, communication, and judgment, with the ability to influence across functions, engage effectively with customers, and earn credibility at all levels of the organization.