The Opportunity
The Senior Director of Manufacturing is a senior operating leader responsible for the overall operational and financial performance of assigned manufacturing sites within the Merchandising Displays business. This role carries full P&L responsibility and owns results across safety, quality, service, cost, productivity, asset reliability, and profitability. As the P&L owner, this leader works in close partnership with the Commercial organization to drive top\u2011line growth, profitable mix, and sustainable bottom\u2011line results, ensuring manufacturing capabilities, cost structure, and capacity decisions align with customer strategy and business objectives. The role requires disciplined, strategic leadership in capital deployment, balancing productivity, growth enablement, and risk mitigation while holding teams accountable for return realization. The Senior Director of Manufacturing sets direction, establishes standards, and ensures results through strong plant leadership, while remaining prepared to engage directly in day\u2011to\u2011day plant operations when business conditions require active leadership presence.
How you will impact Smurfit Westrock
Full P&L responsibility for assigned manufacturing operations, including revenue performance, conversion cost, labor, overhead, working capital, and operating income
Partner with Commercial and Sales leadership to support top\u2011line growth, customer expansion, and profitable mix through capacity planning, cost transparency, and operational execution
Act as the manufacturing counterpart in pricing, volume, and margin discussions, ensuring operational economics and constraints are clearly understood
Translate customer and market opportunities into manufacturable, scalable, and profitable solutions
Lead the development and execution of annual operating plans, forecasts, and multi\u2011year strategic roadmaps
Establish and enforce consistent manufacturing processes, performance measures, and operating disciplines
Drive sustained improvements in waste reduction, productivity, yield, uptime, and cost performance
Be deliberate and strategic in capital planning, prioritizing investments that materially improve margin, enable growth, reduce risk, or strengthen competitive position
Ensure capital and investments deliver expected returns, with accountability for execution, benefits realization, and post\u2011investment validation
Hold Plant General Managers and Operations Managers accountable for results, leadership effectiveness, and succession planning
Build cross\u2011plant collaboration across manufacturing and maintenance functions to leverage best practices and improve consistency
Champion OPX and Lean Six Sigma as business systems, ensuring improvement efforts translate into measurable financial outcomes
Maintain an uncompromising focus on safety, quality, and regulatory compliance
Represent manufacturing perspectives in enterprise\u2011level discussions related to growth strategy, footprint, and investment priorities
Perform other duties as assigned in support of division objectives
Role Emphasis
This role balances strategic leadership with direct operational engagement. While the Senior Director of Manufacturing primarily operates through strong plant leadership teams, there will be periods that require active, hands\u2011on involvement in day\u2011to\u2011day plant operations to stabilize performance, address risk, or accelerate results. The Senior Director of Manufacturing is expected to know when to lead through systems and leaders, and when to personally engage in plant\u2011level execution to drive results.
Success in this role is defined by:
Ownership of outcomes, including stepping into day\u2011to\u2011day plant management when safety, quality, delivery, or financial performance require direct leadership
Quality of decisions made at both the strategic and operational levels
Strength and accountability of plant leadership teams
Predictability of operating and financial results
Effectiveness of capital deployment and follow\u2011through
Alignment between commercial ambition and manufacturing capability
Success in This Role Looks Like
Manufacturing performance that enables growth while protecting margin
Capital deployed with clear strategic intent and validated financial returns
Strong, self\u2011sustaining plant leadership teams
Predictable operating results with fewer surprises
Manufacturing recognized as a competitive advantage for the Merchandising Displays business
Core Accountability Areas
P&L ownership and financial performance
Commercial partnership and profitable growth enablement
Strategic capital allocation and return optimization
Manufacturing safety, quality, and operational excellence
Asset reliability and cost competitiveness
Standardization, OPX, and continuous improvement
Leadership development and succession planning
What You Need to Succeed
Experience and Background
Bachelor\u2019s degree preferred in engineering, operations, or business
15+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, including senior\u2011level roles
Demonstrated success with P&L ownership in complex manufacturing environments
Experience operating across multiple sites with meaningful scale and complexity
Background in displays, packaging, print, graphics, or capital\u2011intensive manufacturing strongly preferred
Proven track record of commercial partnership and margin improvement
Executive Capabilities
Enterprise mindset with strong financial and strategic judgment
Ability to lead through clear expectations, accountability, and follow\u2011through
Credibility with senior commercial, finance, and operations leaders
Disciplined capital allocator with a clear focus on return and risk
Direct, respectful communicator who drives alignment and execution
What we offer:
Corporate culture based on integrity, respect, accountability and excellence
Comprehensive training with numerous learning and development opportunities
An attractive salary reflecting skills, competencies and potential
Benefits package to include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, 401k with match, tuition reimbursement, employee discounts, employee referral bonus, and much more!
A career with a global packaging company where Sustainability, Safety and Inclusion are business drivers and foundational elements of the daily work.
Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) is a global leader in sustainable paper and packaging solutions. We are materials scientists, packaging designers, mechanical engineers and manufacturing experts with a shared purpose: Innovate Boldly. Package Sustainably. Guided by our values of safety, loyalty, integrity, and respect, we use leading science and technology to move fiber-based packaging forward.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by state or federal law.
