Plant Manager

About Kennametal

With over 85 years as an industrial technology leader, Kennametal Inc. delivers productivity to customers through materials science, tooling and wear-resistant solutions. Customers across aerospace and defense, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation turn to Kennametal to help them manufacture with precision and efficiency. Learn more at kennametal.com. Follow @Kennametal: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Job Title: Plant Manager
Location: Huntsville, Alabama

The Plant Manager provides overall leadership of the operation of the Huntsville site. S/He is responsible for setting the vision for the site to enable and meet business objectives. Accountable for obtaining the performance goals including revenue growth, profitability, customer satisfaction, operational excellence, manufacturing, strategic planning, and talent development. The successful candidate will possess the ability to lead by example, implement system/processes, and proactively drive continuous improvement within a multi-process site and fast-paced environment.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Full responsibility for the plant’s P&L and overall plant performance.


• Work with plant leaders in Manufacturing, Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, Supply chain, Finance, EHS and HR to develop and drive operating objectives for the plant and ensure that facilities operate on plan and within budget. Develop and manage operational and capital budgets. Facilitate the continued pursuit of standardized plant metrics (e.g., safety, quality, supply, delivery, etc.). Measure and monitor performance against metric targets and coach plant leadership in resolving variances. Promote a culture of accountability and team work within the plant.


• Lead and exemplify the culture of safe manufacturing and ensure safety accountability across the organization


• Implement a culture of continuous improvement and employee engagement to improve all areas of plant operations. Optimize production and maintenance strategies to achieve lowest total cost while complying with quality standards, meeting or exceeding customer expectations, maintaining equipment reliability, and fostering employee accountability. Advance the plant’s operating capabilities through automation and lean processes.


• Develop capabilities of frontline leadership through mentoring, training, and coaching.

Education, Work Experience, Skills, Certificates Minimum Level of Education (for Job):

• The ideal candidate will possess: (1) operations leadership experience in a manufacturing environment of relevant scale and complexity, (2) experience leading lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives to reduce costs and improve productivity; and (3) a track record of results through action, motivation, and influence in a complex, matrixed environment.


• Experience in a manufacturing environment of relevant scale & complexity (e.g. >100 employees, multi-product lines, >$200M in assets).


• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in engineering or similar technical field


• A minimum of 15 years of technical manufacturing experience, with leadership roles of increasing responsibility


• Production leadership experience with at least two layers of management structure; possesses a disciplined operations management system


• A flexible, dynamic, self-demanding and proactive individual; able to motivate him/herself and others; a natural bias for action with a focus on results delivery


• Excellent communication skills, including written and verbal; comfortable and credible with both internal stakeholders and external audiences

To be considered for this position, you must be legally authorized to work in the US (excluding Optional Practice Testing) and not require sponsorship now or in the future.

Kennametal Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer