PLANT MANAGER
Industrial Implementation & Operations
Location
Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Reports to
Head of Brazil
Department
Industrial Operations
Employment type
To be defined
Travel
National and international travel required
Language
Advanced English required and resume must be submitted in English as well
Interfaces
Executive Management, Engineering, Quality, Procurement, Finance, Sales and Global Teams
Stage
Greenfield factory implementation
POSITION OBJECTIVE
The Plant Manager will lead the implementation of WECO's manufacturing operation in Brazil, from planning, facility layout and local supplier development through machinery acquisition, installation, start-up and production stabilization.
Following the implementation phase, this role will assume full responsibility for plant operations, ensuring productivity, quality, safety, cost control, delivery performance and continuous improvement.
The position will interact frequently with WECO headquarters and international teams. Advanced English is therefore required for meetings, technical discussions, training, negotiations and management reporting.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Factory Implementation
- Lead the end-to-end implementation of WECO's manufacturing facility in Brazil.
- Develop, maintain and report the complete implementation schedule, including milestones, responsibilities, risks and dependencies.
- Coordinate activities with local management, headquarters, engineering, quality, finance, procurement and external contractors.
- Participate in the definition of the industrial layout, material flow, production areas, warehouse, quality, maintenance and shipping areas.
- Identify the infrastructure, utilities, equipment, tools and resources required for operations.
- Coordinate construction, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic and other industrial installation activities.
- Manage machinery installation, commissioning, validation and production release.
- Ensure that the plant is ready to start operations in accordance with approved budget, schedule, safety and quality requirements.
- Identify implementation risks and establish preventive and contingency action plans.
2. Local Supplier Development
- Identify, assess and develop local suppliers for raw materials, components, tooling, packaging, machinery and industrial services.
- Conduct technical visits, supplier assessments and audits.
- Evaluate suppliers based on technical capability, production capacity, quality, lead time, competitiveness and financial stability.
- Negotiate commercial conditions, prices, lead times, warranties and supply agreements.
- Coordinate supplier and component qualification with Engineering and Quality.
- Develop local alternatives to reduce costs, import lead times and dependency on international sources.
- Monitor supplier performance through quality, delivery and cost indicators.
3. Machinery, Equipment and Tooling Acquisition
- Map requirements for machinery, production equipment, tooling, fixtures, testing devices and measuring instruments.
- Prepare technical specifications in cooperation with Engineering, Quality and Production.
- Request, analyze and compare technical and commercial proposals.
- Participate in negotiations and supplier selection, including total cost of ownership and return-on-investment analysis.
- Monitor equipment design, manufacturing, factory acceptance testing, delivery, installation and start-up.
- Coordinate technical and operational training provided by equipment suppliers.
- Ensure availability of spare parts, technical documentation, maintenance plans and required certifications.
4. Production and Plant Operations
- Plan, organize and manage manufacturing activities after plant start-up.
- Ensure customer orders are produced and delivered within agreed lead times.
- Define production capacity, labor requirements, shift structure and production schedules.
- Implement standard operating procedures, work instructions and operational controls.
- Monitor productivity, efficiency, scrap, rework, downtime and material losses.
- Implement continuous improvement and workplace organization practices.
- Establish and monitor operational key performance indicators.
- Ensure proper use and maintenance of machinery, tools, equipment and raw materials.
- Coordinate activities with Procurement, Warehouse, Sales, Engineering and Quality to maintain an efficient operational flow.
5. Quality, Compliance and Safety
- Ensure manufacturing processes comply with WECO standards, customer specifications and applicable legal requirements.
- Support the implementation and maintenance of the Quality Management System, including ISO 9001 requirements.
- Lead or support root-cause analysis, nonconformity investigations and corrective action plans.
- Ensure compliance with Brazilian occupational health and safety regulations applicable to industrial facilities and machinery.
- Promote a culture of safety, quality, discipline, organization and continuous improvement.
- Ensure employees receive all technical, operational and safety training required for their roles.
6. Team Leadership
- Participate in defining the organizational structure and staffing plan for the plant.
- Identify hiring needs for Production, Quality, Maintenance and other operational functions.
- Participate in recruitment, selection and onboarding of plant personnel.
- Lead, coach and develop the factory team.
- Establish responsibilities, objectives and individual and team performance indicators.
- Conduct performance reviews and employee development plans.
- Maintain clear communication between local operations, executive management and international teams.
7. Budget, Cost and Performance Management
- Prepare and control the factory implementation budget and capital expenditure plan.
- Monitor investments in machinery, tooling, equipment and infrastructure.
- Manage production, maintenance, labor, utilities and material costs.
- Identify and implement opportunities to reduce cost and increase productivity.
- Prepare periodic reports on implementation progress, operational performance, risks and corrective actions.
- Present key indicators and action plans to local management and headquarters.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Production Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Automation Engineering, Industrial Management or a related field.
- Proven experience in production management, plant management or industrial operations.
- Experience in the implementation, expansion, relocation or start-up of manufacturing operations.
- Experience in the specification, purchase, installation and commissioning of machinery and industrial equipment.
- Experience in sourcing, evaluating, qualifying and developing suppliers.
- Knowledge of manufacturing processes, quality, maintenance and industrial safety.
- Strong project management skills, including schedule, budget, risk and investment control.
- Experience leading and developing operational teams.
- Advanced English, both written and spoken.
- Availability for national and international travel.
- Advanced knowledge of Excel and familiarity with project management and performance reporting tools.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Previous experience implementing a greenfield manufacturing facility.
- Experience in electrical components, connectors, electromechanical products, metalworking, plastics or industrial assembly.
- Knowledge of plastic injection molding, stamping, machining or assembly of electrical components.
- Experience with international suppliers and localization of components.
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen, OEE and continuous improvement methods.
- Experience with ISO 9001 and quality system implementation.
- Knowledge of Brazilian regulatory standards for industrial operations, especially NR-10 and NR-12.
- Experience with ERP systems, preferably Odoo.
- Knowledge of importing machinery, equipment and raw materials.
BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES
- Hands-on leadership and willingness to work directly on implementation activities.
- Strong ownership, accountability and result orientation.
- Excellent organization and ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
- Sound decision-making and problem-solving capability.
- Strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
- Clear communication with local and international teams.
- Analytical thinking with focus on cost, quality, schedule and performance.
- Adaptability in a fast-changing implementation environment.
- Ability to design processes, systems and organizational structures from the ground up.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Area
Primary Measurement
Implementation
Achievement of plant implementation milestones and start-up date
Budget
Compliance with approved capital expenditure and implementation budget
Equipment
On-time installation, validation and production release of machinery
Localization
Number and percentage of local suppliers and components qualified
Cost
Savings generated through localization, productivity and process improvements
Delivery
Production schedule attainment and on-time delivery performance
Quality
Scrap, rework, customer complaints and nonconformity levels
Productivity
Output, labor efficiency, OEE and capacity utilization
Reliability
Equipment availability, downtime and maintenance performance
Safety
Compliance with safety requirements and incident prevention indicators
WECO Brazil is seeking a practical, structured and internationally minded leader who can build the operation and then lead it successfully.
Job Type: Full-time
Work Location: In person
