Vice President of Production Operations

About MISUMI Americas

MISUMI Americas, a division of MISUMI Group, is a premier provider of standard, configurable, and custom manufacturing solutions. We empower engineers and procurement teams to accelerate innovation across the product lifecycle by integrating a vast component catalog with a world-class digital manufacturing platform. Serving the most innovative companies in the Americas from our San Francisco Bay Area and Chicago operations.

About the Role

The Vice President of Production Operations is a strategic executive leader responsible for ensuring MISUMI Americas' readiness to fulfill customer production commitments. This role owns the end-to-end operational readiness framework—encompassing people, processes, technology, and supply chain—and drives flawless execution across all customer production programs. The VP will build and lead a high-performing operations organization capable of scaling with business growth while consistently meeting customer expectations for quality, delivery, and responsiveness.

This is a remote role, requiring frequent travel (approximately 25–40%) to supply regions (e.g., India, China, Mexico, Japan, US), customer locations, and MISUMI Americas operational hubs.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Readiness & Strategy

• Define and own the operational readiness framework for scaling customer production programs across people, processes, technology, and supply chain.
• Collaborate with cross-functional leadership (Sales, Technology, Operations, Engineering, Finance, Quality) to ensure production service offerings achieve strong product-market fit, are operationally deliverable, and evolve based on feedback.
• Develop and execute a multi-year operations strategy aligned with company growth targets and customer commitments.
• Partner with Executive & GTM Leadership to assess organizational capabilities, identify product-market fit gaps, establish a production offering roadmap, and execute against it.
• Establish clear operational KPIs, dashboards, and governance rhythms for visibility and accountability.

Production Program Execution

• Lead end-to-end execution of customer production programs (intake through delivery), ensuring on-time, on-budget, and on-quality fulfillment.
• Serve as the senior operational escalation point for complex or high-priority customer programs, resolving bottlenecks and protecting delivery commitments.
• Partner with the VP of Program Management to implement program management standards and processes for consistent execution.
• Build a high-speed production system for launch partners, emphasizing reproducibility and reliability, leveraging AI tools and differentiated workflows.
• Collaborate with sales and account management to translate customer requirements into operational plans and capacity commitments.
• Be accountable for key production program performance metrics across all regions (e.g., Profit, Delivery Performance, Quality, NPS, Manufacturing Margin, PPV).

People & Organization Leadership

• Partner with Regional General Managers to build, develop, and inspire a world-class production operations team (operations managers, program managers, supply chain leads, technical staff).
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and customer-centricity.
• Define organizational structure, roles, and workforce planning to support current and future business demands.
• Attract, develop, and retain high-potential operations talent, creating clear career pathways and development programs.

Process Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Champion lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or equivalent methodologies to drive efficiency, reduce waste, and improve quality.
• Identify systemic process gaps and lead cross-functional initiatives for improved workflows.
• Establish change management practices for effective adoption of new processes and technologies.
• Build a data-driven decision-making culture using rigorous metrics, root cause analysis, and corrective actions. Champion pragmatic use of AI and advanced analytics.

Technology & Digital Operations

• Partner with IT and digital transformation teams to implement and optimize operational technology (ERP, WMS, MES, analytics platforms).
• Drive automation and digitization of manual workflows for improved speed, accuracy, and scalability.
• Ensure technology investments align with operational needs and achieve full adoption.
• Leverage data and digital tools for improved production visibility, forecasting accuracy, and customer reporting.
• Evaluate and leverage AI tools to enhance operational insight and execution (forecasting, scheduling, quality detection, risk monitoring, decision support).

Supply Chain Management

• Own the supply chain strategy for production programs, ensuring supplier readiness, inventory positioning, and procurement processes support reliable fulfillment.
• Partner with global MISUMI supply chain teams, adapting strategies to Americas market needs.
• Collaborate closely with Regional General Managers on supplier relationships, in-region supply chains, capacity, supplier performance, inventory, and regional fulfillment strategies.
• Develop supply chain resilience strategies to manage disruptions and protect delivery commitments.

Customer & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as a senior operational partner to key customers, participating in business reviews and driving resolution of delivery or quality concerns.
• Represent operations in executive leadership forums, providing transparent performance updates and strategic recommendations.
• Ensure swift resolution of customer escalations related to production programs with lasting corrective actions.
• All employees are expected to maintain and contribute to the QMS.

Required Experience

• 15+ years of progressive operations leadership experience, with at least 5 years in a senior or executive role (VP or equivalent) overseeing production or manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated track record of leading operational transformations and scaling operations organizations in growth-stage or mid-market contract manufacturing companies.
• Expertise in production program management, supply chain strategy, and lean/continuous improvement methodologies.
• Proven ability to lead and develop large, globally distributed teams.
• Strong cross-functional influencing skills; ability to align diverse stakeholders around operational strategy and execution priorities.
• Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management, Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, or a related field.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in industrial components, manufacturing distribution, or custom parts fulfillment industries, ideally with exposure to MISUMI’s product or business model.
• Familiarity with MISUMI Americas’ operations, customer base, or competitive landscape.
• MBA or advanced degree in a relevant discipline.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent certification.
• Experience leading digital/ERP transformation programs within an operations environment.
• Multilingual capabilities (Spanish, Japanese, and/or Mandarin) are a plus.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described are representative of those required to perform essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities.

• Employees routinely sit, walk, talk, hear, use hands to keyboard, fingers, handle, and feel; stoop, kneel, crouch, twist, crawl, reach, and stretch.
• This is a remote role, but requires frequent travel (approximately 25–40%) to supply regions (e.g., India, China, Mexico, Japan, US), customer locations, and MISUMI Americas operational hubs.

Salary Range

$220,000 – $270,000 base salary per year, plus a variable compensation potential of $50,000 - $80,000, depending on experience.

Benefits

Benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage
• 401(k) plan
• Generous PTO and leave programs

Our Culture

We are actively seeking teammates who:

• Bring diverse perspectives and experience to our culture and company.
• Excel at being part of a strong, empathetic team.
• Thrive in an environment emphasizing respect, honesty, collaboration, and growth.
• Have an ‘always learning’ mindset that celebrates learning, not just wins.
• Help us continue to build a world-class organization that values the contributions of all teammates.

We encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups, including but not limited to women, members of the LGBTQ community, people of color, people with disabilities, and veterans.