Company Overview
Young Innovations is a manufacturer and marketer of high quality dental equipment and supplies with sales in excess of $150 million covering a broad portfolio of market-leading products across a variety of dental categories. With an outstanding reputation for quality, our company has a broad portfolio of market leading products across a variety of categories. We are a fast-paced, lean organization with tremendous opportunity for growth through hands-on experience with diverse and challenging projects.

Young Dental, a subsidiary of Young Innovations, is a leading US designer, manufacturer and marketer of clinically advanced dental hygiene products with locations in St. Louis, MO and Algonquin, IL. Young Dental has been developing dental products since 1900 having launched and built some of the industry’s most revered products. Young’s flagship product is the disposable prophy angle which set the stage for innovation in dental hygiene over forty years ago. Trusted by dental professionals worldwide, Young manufactures over 200 professional preventive products including hygiene handpieces, prophy pastes, fluoride varnish and infection control products while maintaining strategic partnerships with well-known consumer brands like Oral B and Wrigley. For more information on our market leading products and innovative brands, please visit youngdental.com.


Role Overview
Young Dental is looking for a dynamic, focused, and engaging leader to join our team as the Director of Operations at our facility in Earth City, MO. The Director of Operations oversees all plant operations with primary responsibility for driving and guiding teams within multiple value streams in various functional capacities, including production, engineering, maintenance, purchasing/planning/scheduling, materials/inventory management, shipping/receiving, and facility management.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate strong strategic leadership throughout facility to all levels of direct and indirect reports, including communicating operations and company objectives/successes/opportunities for improvement, and engaging staff and shop floor employees in developing and implementing continuous improvement solutions
• Recruit, hire, retain, and develop a high-performing operations leadership team focused on accountability, goal achievement, and engaging people management, and ensure that that team adopts a similar focus in the selection and development of their own high-performing group(s)
• Provide strategic oversight and direction to all production-related operations of facility, establishing accountability and feedback loops with the operations management team to ensure that:
  • Purchasing, planning and allocation of manufacturing resources (both people and materials) meet short and long-term production requirements;
  • Daily production and shipping activity meets on-time customer demand;
  • Appropriate preventive maintenance and machine troubleshooting activities are completed;
  • All safety and quality procedures are implemented, maintained, and followed
• Develop leadership team to drive Lean Manufacturing and all other continuous improvement initiatives within the facility
• Direct the establishment, monitoring, analysis, and communication of plant performance via dashboards, scorecards, and ad hoc reports; share data with appropriate parties as needed
• Own all elements of operations budget for facility, including preparation and adherence to operating and capital expenditure budgets in-line with business unit and corporate objectives
• Partner with on-site and corporate Quality and Regulatory to ensure ongoing facility compliance with ISO standards and FDA guidelines
• Partner with various operations and matrixed business partners to develop and execute strategic and tactical operating plans for facility, such as:
  • VP/GM for BU: aligning operational projects and initiatives to total company objectives
  • Sales/Marketing (Branded and OEM): engaging S&OP activities to ensure production is able to meet recurring and one-off customer demand
  • New Product Development: partnering with Product Marketing and Product Development Engineers to successfully transfer new products to manufacturing Guide maintenance
  • Human Resources: build and develop team
  • IT: prepares infrastructure improvement plans and collaborates with corporate IT group to plan and implement approved projects
• Participates in developing strategic direction new product development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in operations management, industrial engineering, supply chain/logistics or a related field and a minimum of 10 years of experience in manufacturing, including 5 years in a leadership capacity; or an equivalent combination of training and experience. Preference given for those who have:
  • Managed multiple value streams
  • Worked in Injection Molding and automated equipment operations
  • Worked in a Private Equity owned organization
  • Successfully integrated new production capacity or business acquisitions
• Expert-level knowledge of lean manufacturing concepts and methodologies and proven ability to execute initiatives and maintain a strong lean environment.
• Experience in strategic planning
• Demonstrated success in developing teams, driving change management, and implementing a culture of accountability, engagement, and continuous process improvement
• Understanding and experience in the application of a high-functioning Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process
• Experience in a regulated environment, preferably FDA and Medical Devices, with knowledge of ISO 13485 standards, FDA guidelines, current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP), and European Medical Device Directive
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to manage budget and P&L responsibilities
• Ability to develop, track, analyze, and report/communicate on appropriate operational metrics
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to all levels inside and outside the organization
• Strong project/time management skills with the ability to juggle multiple high-priority demands in a fast-paced environment
• Superior root cause problem solving skills
• Knowledge and familiarity with ERP systems
• Occasionally lifting up to 50 pounds

Young Dental/Young Innovations, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and E-Verify participating employer