Director of Operations – North America

Position Summary

This role leads end-to-end operations and engineering support for North America in a small, high-accountability organization. The Director Operations is both a people leader and a hands-on operator, owning warehouse execution (inbound to outbound), SIOP and inventory availability, purchasing coor-dination, Dynamics 365 (D365) process ownership, technical support, and quality/returns improvement.

What Success Looks Like (Key Outcomes)

  • Consistent on-time delivery and stable warehouse execution.
  • High inventory availability with controlled inventory levels through disciplined SIOP.
  • Reliable D365 master data, pricing, and process integrity; continuous improvement delivered through D365 changes.
  • Fast resolution of technical and quality issues with suppliers and customers.
  • A cross-trained, developing team with clear goals, coaching cadence.

Core Responsibilities

Operations (Warehouse & Execution)

  • Lead the North America warehouse team; provide daily operational support and prioritization.
  • Run weekly 1:1s for goal setting, performance feedback, and training/development planning.
  • Drive cross-training to ensure coverage and flexibility across functions.
  • Identify efficiency improvements and implement changes in proccess

Inventory, SIOP, Planning, Procurement

  • Lead weekly SIOP discussions for North America to align demand, inventory, and supply actions.
  • Resolve inventory availability issues; proactively manage constraints and priorities.
  • Coordinate replenishment actions to protect service and optimize inventory.
  • Identify customer sales agreements and translate agreements into replenishment parameters.
  • Forecast future demand in collaboration with Sales; adjust stocking levels.
  • Own product life-cycle planning and obsolescence reserve management.
  • Act as D365 product/process owner for NA: maintain master data.

Engineering & Technical Support

  • Support North America technical needs and act as the local engineering interface.
  • Serve as local project engineering resource, partner with Switzerland engineering for projects.
  • Resolve technical/quality issues with customers; coordinate root-cause and corrective actions.
  • Act as internal and external training resource for products and technical topics.
  • Respond to customer and internal technical inquiries.

Quality & Returns (RMA)

  • Review RMAs and disposition of returned products.
  • Monitor returns trends and drive actions to eliminate recurring problems.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Coordinate closely with Sales and Switzerland Factory and Engineering.
  • Communicate clearly on priorities, constraints, and delivery commitments.

Qualifications

Education

  • Bachelor’s degree (required) in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations Management, or Supply Chain Management.
  • Master’s degree (preferred): MBA (Operations/Supply Chain), MS Engineering Management, or MS Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems Engineering.

Experience

  • 10–15+ years of progressively responsible experience across operations, engineering, supply chain, warehouse/production management.
  • Demonstrated leadership experience with a small team in a hands-on operational environment.
  • Experience owning or administering ERP processes (Dynamics 365 preferred).
  • Proven track record in resolving customer technical issues and driving corrective actions
  • Comfortable operating as a “player-coach” in a small organization: executes work directly while leading and developing others.

Key Skills

  • Clear communication, structured problem solving, and a pragmatic continuous improvement approach.
  • Operations leadership (End-to-End incl. Warehouse
  • Planning discipline: SIOP cadence, demand/supply alignment.
  • Supplier and customer management: technical communication.
  • Analytical mindset with strong Excel/BI basics; ability to translate data into actions and priorities.

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employ-ment without regard to legally protected characteristics.

Send your complete application documents, including your desired start date, electronically to Extern HR Partner, Mrs. Natalie Roth, Email: ntlrthhcsltnsch