Senior Operations Manager

Austin Powder is seeking a strong, hands-on, emotionally intelligent Senior Operations Manager for its Midway, Tennessee manufacturing facility. This role is especially important because the operations function sits at the center of the facility’s production performance, customer fulfillment, and long-term leadership continuity.  The Midway site operates as a 24/7/365 chemical manufacturing complex producing anhydrous ammonia, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate solution, and ammonium nitrate emulsions. The role reports directly to the Plant Manager and will serve as a senior operating leader across the site’s production organization.

This is a newly created role designed to strengthen operational leadership, improve day-to-day execution, take meaningful load off the Plant Manager, and create succession depth for the facility. The successful candidate will be expected to run the operations department with discipline, credibility, and practical judgment while building trust with a long-tenured team in a high-hazard manufacturing environment.

The role will sit between the current operations leadership layer and the Plant Manager. Over time, the Company expects the Senior Operations Manager to have direct oversight of four shift supervisors and additional operations / area leaders. The person selected will need to earn credibility quickly, stabilize the team through a planned restructuring, improve communication and morale, and bring a more strategic operating cadence to the department.

The ideal candidate will bring deep chemical manufacturing operations experience, ideally with exposure to ammonia, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, emulsion, industrial explosives, fertilizer, nitrogen chemicals, or similarly regulated process manufacturing environments. The strongest candidate will understand 24/7 plant operations, safety-critical processes, production planning, shutdown planning, KPI management, cross-functional coordination, and the realities of leading hourly, shift-based teams.

This is not a purely technical role. Austin Powder needs an operations leader who can combine process manufacturing discipline with leadership maturity, practical continuous improvement, strong communication, and the emotional intelligence to build trust as an outside leader entering a team that needs both stability and higher expectations.

EARLY AREAS OF FOCUS
During the first 90 days, the Senior Operations Manager will be expected to:

• Learn the plant, products, production flow, department structure, key personnel, and operating rhythms.

• Build strong working relationships with the Plant Manager, current operations leaders, shift supervisors, and cross-functional partners.

• Assess the morale, communication, accountability, and engagement levels within the operations department.

• Identify practical quick wins that improve the employee experience, simplify administrative processes, or increase departmental efficiency.

• Understand current production planning, forecasting, transportation coordination, shift coverage, safety practices, and operating procedures.

• Begin shaping the department’s future structure, including the potential transition of existing operations leaders into area / technical specialist roles.

• Establish credibility as a leader who is there to help the team, improve the function, and raise the operating standard.

SUCCESS MEASURES

Success in 12 Months
The successful candidate will have:

• Developed a strong understanding of the department, the plant, and how the business operates.

• Earned trust and credibility with the Plant Manager, operations team, and key functional partners.

• Taken meaningful workload off the Plant Manager in areas such as budgeting, production forecasting, product movement, transportation coordination, and operational follow-up.

• Improved department morale and employee experience in a visible and measurable way.

• Implemented practical process, administrative, or communication improvements that are noticeable to the team.

• Built a stronger operating cadence around safety, production planning, KPI review, issue escalation, and follow-through.

• Helped stabilize the team through the early stages of organizational restructuring.

Success in 24 Months
The successful candidate will have: 

• Established a strong, disciplined foundation for the operations department.

• Built a more proactive, efficient, and accountable operating organization.

• Developed the trust and capability to provide meaningful succession coverage for the Plant Manager.

• Created a department that is better organized, better led, and more capable of sustaining high performance in a 24/7 chemical manufacturing environment.

• Positioned the operations function to operate with stronger leadership depth, clearer accountability, and improved morale.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Safety, Compliance, and Operating Discipline

• Champion safe and efficient work practices across all operations crews.

• Ensure operations activities comply with company guidelines, safety requirements, environmental regulations, and plant standards.

• Support and participate in Process Safety Management activities, including PHA, MOC, PSSR, incident investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective actions.

• Review and audit shift performance, including work completion and adherence to safe work practices such as LOTO, Hot Work, Safe Work Permits, and related procedures.

• Provide direct oversight and leadership during plant start-ups, shutdowns, and critical operating events.

• Reinforce safety as the first priority while maintaining a practical, production-oriented operating mindset.

Production and Operations Leadership

• Lead and optimize manufacturing operations across a chemical complex producing anhydrous ammonia, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate solution, and ammonium nitrate emulsions.

• Work with the team to develop and execute weekly, monthly, and annual production plans.

• Plan and allocate labor, equipment, and materials to achieve production targets.

• Review inventories, shift logs, process plant logs, and other operating data to identify performance trends and areas requiring attention.

• Monitor and report on key performance indicators and take appropriate action to address gaps.

• Ensure operating procedures, training manuals, and related materials are accurate, current, and consistently followed.

• Ensure shutdown work timelines and schedules are efficient, complete, and aligned with plant priorities.

Leadership, Culture, and Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop shift supervisors and operations / area leaders.

• Build trust with hourly employees, supervisors, and cross-functional partners.

• Improve morale, employee engagement, and the overall employee experience within the operations function.

• Establish clear expectations, improve follow-through, and create a stronger sense of ownership across the department.

• Maintain a strong focus on talent development, succession planning, and team capability.

• Bring sensitivity and emotional intelligence to a team that may be cautious about an outside leader entering the organization.

Continuous Improvement and Performance Management

• Identify practical continuous improvement opportunities that improve safety, efficiency, communication, and operational performance.

• Drive improvements that reduce waste, improve production reliability, and strengthen departmental processes.

• Support root cause analysis and corrective action initiatives.

• Develop and use KPIs to measure department performance, identify issues, and create accountability.

• Bring a pragmatic improvement mindset; formal Six Sigma experience is helpful, but practical plant-floor application is more important than certification alone.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Develop effective working relationships with Maintenance, Engineering, Safety, HR, Finance, Accounting, Supply Chain, Commercial, and corporate support teams.

• Collaborate with Maintenance and Engineering to reduce unplanned downtime and support reliability initiatives.

• Work with commercial and supply chain partners to ensure production forecasting and transportation plans align with customer requirements.

• Communicate clearly and consistently across departments to improve coordination and execution.

Budgeting and Business Support

• Support operating budgets, labor planning, material cost management, and production forecasting.

• Assist the Plant Manager with operational analysis and business planning.

• Bring financial awareness and discipline to production decisions, resource allocation, and improvement initiatives.

Austin Powder has been making explosives for over 190 years and takes great pride in improving the world we live in. In 1833, the Austin family created the company to produce black powder that would help break the rock, mine the minerals, and build the canals and railroads to develop the frontier. Initially, along the banks of the Cuyahoga River near Akron, Ohio, Austin Powder grew as the country grew.

Today, Austin Powder is a world leader in the industrial explosives industry with a passionate commitment towards safety, a relentless customer focus, a family culture work environment, and a demonstration of respect towards all. The Company manufactures, distributes, and applies industrial explosives for quarrying, surface mining, underground mining, oil and gas, seismic, and construction markets. They provide a broad range of highly engineered solutions, all of which are developed to advance the safety, reliability, and efficiency of breaking rock.

The Company’s success has been based on its core values and this has proven to be universally true around the globe as the company has expanded to be one of the leading providers of industrial explosives and blasting services in the world.

At a Glance

• One of the oldest manufacturers of explosives in the world.

• A global industrial explosives and blasting services company with operations across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

• A long history of developing safer, more reliable blasting products, manufacturing processes, and innovative technologies.

• A mission-driven organization committed to improving the world through the safe and responsible use of explosives.

Compelling Differentiators 

• Strong manufacturing culture with a focus on quality, reliability, safety, and innovation.

• Highly engineered solutions across products, equipment, service delivery, technical service, and blast optimization.

• Vertical integration and internal manufacturing capabilities that support control of critical feedstocks, energetic materials, and finished products.

• A differentiated culture rooted in safety, customer focus, the power of family, and respect.

• Long-term ownership philosophy and stable business profile, combined with ongoing growth and transformation.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering strongly preferred.

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline may be considered with directly relevant chemical / process manufacturing experience.

• Mechanical Engineering may be considered if the candidate has strong direct experience in chemical, high-hazard, or regulated process manufacturing.

• 10+ years of leadership experience in chemical manufacturing, process manufacturing, industrial explosives, fertilizer, nitrogen chemicals, or a related high-hazard manufacturing environment.

• Experience in a 24/7/365 plant environment strongly preferred.

• Experience leading hourly, shift-based teams required.

Preferred Industry Background

Strongest target backgrounds include:

• Chemical manufacturing

• Ammonia / anhydrous ammonia production

• Nitric acid production

• Ammonium nitrate / AN solution

• Emulsion manufacturing

• Industrial explosives and blasting products

• Fertilizer / nitrogen chemical production

• Regulated, hazardous, or PSM-heavy process manufacturing

Technical and Functional

• Strong understanding of chemical manufacturing processes and equipment.

• Exposure to ammonia, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, or emulsion manufacturing preferred.

• Familiarity with PSM, PHA, MOC, PSSR, LOTO, Hot Work, Safe Work Permits, incident investigation, root cause analysis, and corrective action processes.

• Experience with production planning, shutdown / turnaround planning, KPI reporting, budget management, and operations procedures.

• Demonstrated ability to improve performance in a lean, demanding, high-accountability manufacturing environment.

Leadership

• Strong leadership skills and demonstrated ability to improve morale, engagement, and team performance.

• High emotional intelligence and ability to earn trust quickly with long-tenured plant teams.

• Strong communicator and active listener.

• Organized, detail-oriented, and disciplined around follow-up.

• Self-sufficient, proactive, and comfortable operating with appropriate independence.

• Practical, hands-on continuous improvement mindset.

• Comfortable working cross-functionally and at all levels of the organization.

• Highest standards of personal and professional integrity.

The position is based at Austin Powder’s Midway, Tennessee facility, near the Knoxville market. Relocation is required, and Austin Powder is prepared to support relocation for the right candidate.

Travel is expected to be limited, approximately 0–5%.

Compensation will be market-based and competitive. The anticipated base salary is up to approximately $160,000, with a performance-based bonus target expected to be at least 10%. Final compensation will depend on experience, qualifications, and overall fit.