DuPont

Dry End Production Lead

Buffalo, New York Full time

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The primary responsibility of this role is to meet business and operations objectives for the assigned area within the Corian® Unit. The successful candidate will manage overall productivity, quality, resourcing, and scheduling of the assets assigned while continually improving the capabilities of the area to meet business objectives. This role requires strong operations knowledge and understanding of work processes.  This position will report to the Unit Leader and will manage 3 direct reports, including one Maintenance Coordinator and two Technical Advisors. 

The responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Develops strong partnerships with support functions such as EH&S, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and others to drive improvement in the organization and assure alignment. 
  • Lead Root Cause Investigations related to EHS, downtime, or quality events.
  • Understands the production process, equipment, and material flow. Applies expertise to Operations processes to optimize production, yield, and overall cost.
  • Works with the Activity Coordinator / Gatekeeper (ACGK) to ensure maintenance outage periods are optimized and frozen. Provides input for turnaround scope development and duration. Plays a role in turnaround execution, as needed. 
  • Works with Technical Advisor and other personnel to optimize Operations’ performance meeting Business/Plant goals and to ensure daily production targets are met. 
  • Continually improve asset performance while meeting area FPFQY, OEE, and Total Cost of Manufacture objectives (fixed and variable).
  • Works with Production Scheduler to optimize product wheel, inventory, and production schedule.
  • Evaluates production capability and Plant constraints (ex. outages, equipment/staffing limitations, available storage space) and has decision-making rights to determine if Operations can commit to the schedule.
  • Challenges breaks to the production schedule.
  • Assist Operators in resolution of gaps between current production versus plan. Provides leadership and direction in the day-to-day decision-making for the operating area of responsibility. 
  • On call contact for issues regarding production issues.
  • Define current capability of production area and Key Performance Indicators.
  • Routinely reviews performance issues with production team and works with Area Leadership to obtain resources to resolve issues.  Escalates issues that cannot be resolved with current resources to Production Leader. 
  • Partner with improvement teams to reach agreement on proposed improvement plans and ensures plant resources are available to achieve the plan.
  • Leads a routine review of performance in executing against the production schedule. Owns the Operations metrics for this review and presents data/findings to Operations leadership.
  • Promotes proactive equipment problem identification. Works with other roles to ensure operating plan and reliability issues are coordinated. 
  • Ensures issue resolution is communicated and leveraged appropriately. Networks with engineers and with the Business to leverage knowledge on plant operations. 

 Job Qualifications:

  • HS Diploma or equivalent required
  • Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in science or technology
  • 5 years of manufacturing or related experience required
  • Strong problem solving, troubleshooting, and oral/written communication skills
  • Preferred: Experience implementing Lean Manufacturing principles

Capabilities Required for this Role (Knowledge Skills & Abilities):

  • Knowledge of appropriate standards, protocols, and systems. 
  • Microsoft Office knowledge and skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). 
  • Demonstrated skill in verbal and written communications, planning and organizing. 
  • Root cause analysis, troubleshooting and problem-solving skill. 
  • Leadership skills – Coaching & mentoring.
  • Experience in coaching, training, networking and facilitation.  
  • The ability to multi-task and prioritize workload. 
  • Ability to challenge the status quo, drive change and identify improvement opportunities

Behaviors Required for this Role:

  • Inspiring trust - Earns the respect of others; follows through on commitments; authentic; open to feedback; acknowledges and affirms contributions of others
  • Actively listening - Knows what she/he doesn’t know; welcomes input from others; takes time to clearly understand and respond; allows people the time to express their point; open to influence
  • Self-driven - “Sense of purpose”; driven by a higher agenda; demonstrates the ability to elevate and remain objective; able and willing to take risks and do difficult things
  • Resilient - Does not fall to pieces at the first “blow” or failure; stays focused during organizational turmoil; handles pressure and does not take things personally
  • Collaborating with others - Empowers purposeful engagement; “servant leader”; keeps things simple; engages individuals/team to achieve superior results; creates an atmosphere of value-driven outcomes
  • Accountable - Takes responsibility for actions; communicates with transparency; recovers from mistakes; owns their impact

About the Site:

The Yerkes site employs approximately 435 DuPont employees and another 60-80 contractors. In addition to the Corian® operation, Yerkes also is home to Tedlar® Operations. The Corian® business is part of the Shelter Business and part of the Diversified Industrials business segment of DuPont. The Shelter business has landlord responsibilities for the Yerkes site with the Tedlar® business as Tenant. The two business units work collaboratively to share, where appropriate, improvement approaches, resources and site infrastructure support. The bargaining unit employees (operators, mechanics, lab technicians and clerical group) are represented by the United Steel Workers union,  Local 6992. 

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DuPont offers a comprehensive pay and benefits package. To learn more visit the Compensation and Benefits page.