Plant Manager

The Plant Manager will lead the overall operations, organizational development, financial performance, and strategic growth of Configure’s location in Clearwater, Florida. This facility will design, build, validate, and deploy turnkey autonomous injection molding work cells for Configure’s internal manufacturing operations and external customers. Combining mold building, tool building, injection molding, robotics, controls engineering, AI, and advanced automation, this location will deliver complete, integrated manufacturing systems designed to provide consistent quality, high productivity, and minimal to no manual intervention.

This is a broad business leadership role that extends beyond traditional plant management. The successful candidate will have a strong background in automation integration and manufacturing systems, with required experience in injection molding and an understanding of tooling, process development, and high-volume production. Experience in caps and closures manufacturing is a plus.

Working closely with executive leadership, engineering teams, customers, equipment manufacturers, and automation partners, the Plant Manager will lead the development and execution of turnkey manufacturing solutions—from initial customer requirements, quoting, and system design through project execution, factory acceptance testing, installation, commissioning, and customer acceptance.

The Plant Manager will have full accountability for site performance and profitability, including P&L ownership, quoting, job costing, project margins, capital allocation, operational efficiency, and customer delivery. A central priority will be to build a strong management team, establish clear accountability, standardize successful solutions, and scale the business into a repeatable, profitable platform for advanced manufacturing automation.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead overall site operations and strategy: Provide comprehensive leadership for the Clearwater facility, including automation engineering, project management, mold building, tool building, injection molding, controls, assembly, testing, maintenance, quality, and supporting functions. Align site priorities with Configure’s strategic objectives and customer commitments.
• Own financial performance and profitability: Assume full responsibility for site-level P&L performance, including revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, labor productivity, capital expenditures, working capital as applicable, and EBITDA. Establish financial discipline and ensure that operating and project-level decisions support sustainable profitability.
• Lead quoting, estimating, and job costing: Oversee the development and review of customer quotations, project estimates, labor and material costs, equipment costs, supplier pricing, and expected margins. Establish effective job-costing practices to monitor actual versus estimated performance, identify cost variances, manage change orders, and protect project profitability.
• Prioritize automation integration and system delivery: Lead the development and deployment of turnkey autonomous injection molding work cells integrating molding presses, robots, conveyors, vision and inspection systems, assembly equipment, packaging, controls, and downstream material handling. Ensure that individual components function as a reliable, integrated production system.
• Oversee injection molding and tooling capabilities: Direct injection molding operations and related mold-building and tool-building activities. Ensure effective coordination of part design, mold construction, process development, equipment selection, validation, and production requirements. Apply sound injection molding knowledge to evaluate technical feasibility, production performance, quality, cycle times, and manufacturability.
• Manage end-to-end engineering projects: Establish disciplined project management practices covering customer specifications, scope definition, technical design, budgets, schedules, supplier coordination, resource allocation, risk management, factory acceptance testing (FAT), installation, commissioning, and customer acceptance. Ensure projects are delivered safely, on time, within budget, and to agreed performance specifications.
• Build and lead a high-performing management team: Recruit, develop, and retain capable leaders across engineering, automation, project management, manufacturing, and supporting functions. Establish clear roles, decision-making authority, performance expectations, and accountability. Develop a strong leadership structure that can support growth without relying on constant executive intervention.
• Drive organizational transformation and operational discipline: Assess the current organization, workflows, systems, and capabilities. Implement effective management routines, standardized procedures, performance reviews, escalation processes, and clear ownership of results to improve execution, responsiveness, and accountability.
• Develop scalable and standardized manufacturing solutions: Convert successful customer-specific projects into repeatable, modular work-cell designs, standardized engineering practices, and proven manufacturing processes. Reduce engineering duplication, improve deployment speed, and create opportunities to replicate successful systems across multiple customer sites and Configure facilities.
• Lead controls, robotics, and advanced manufacturing technology: Provide leadership and direction to controls, robotics, and automation engineers responsible for PLCs, robot programming, machine interfaces, vision systems, manufacturing data, and system integration. Understand how AI and data-driven technologies can improve inspection, process control, predictive maintenance, equipment uptime, and overall system performance.
• Strengthen customer relationships and delivery performance: Establish credibility with customers, injection molding machine manufacturers, robotics providers, and automation suppliers. Translate customer requirements into practical, commercially sound solutions. Maintain accountability for project milestones, system performance, quality, delivery commitments, customer acceptance, and issue resolution.
• Develop supplier and technology partnerships: Build productive relationships with press manufacturers, tooling suppliers, robotics and controls providers, component suppliers, and other technical partners. Establish expectations for quality, cost, lead times, technical support, and delivery while managing supplier performance and project risks.
• Champion safety, reliability, and lifecycle support: Ensure appropriate machine safety, risk assessments, regulatory compliance, technical documentation, operating procedures, and employee and customer training. Establish plans for spare parts, remote support, troubleshooting, service, and post-deployment performance to protect customer uptime and long-term satisfaction.
• Establish quality and performance systems: Implement and monitor key performance indicators covering project profitability, estimate accuracy, schedule adherence, on-time delivery, quality, equipment performance, commissioning success, customer acceptance, safety, and post-deployment reliability. Use performance data to drive timely corrective action.
• Scale workforce, infrastructure, and capacity: Develop staffing plans, technical capabilities, equipment requirements, facilities, and operating systems to support a growing automation business. Ensure the organization has the resources and expertise to execute multiple projects while maintaining quality, schedule, and margin expectations.
• Drive continuous improvement and business growth: Identify opportunities to improve engineering efficiency, manufacturing processes, project execution, equipment utilization, and customer value. Partner with executive leadership to identify new markets, evaluate business opportunities, expand capabilities, and increase the facility’s contribution to Configure’s overall growth.
• Report results and maintain executive alignment: Provide regular, fact-based reporting to the COO and executive leadership on financial results, project portfolios, forecast accuracy, pipeline and capacity considerations, delivery performance, staffing, operational risks, and strategic initiatives.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in industrial automation, manufacturing systems integration, injection molding automation, turnkey equipment, or a related advanced manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated success leading automation integration, engineered-to-order equipment, turnkey manufacturing systems, or complex industrial projects, ideally with responsibility for engineering, project delivery, manufacturing operations, and financial results.
• Required: Experience with injection molding operations, equipment, processes, or manufacturing systems. The candidate must understand the fundamentals of injection molding sufficiently to lead technical teams, evaluate manufacturing requirements, and oversee integrated molding solutions.
• Strong automation and systems integration expertise, including the ability to lead multidisciplinary teams responsible for robotics, controls, machine integration, material handling, inspection, and complete production work cells.
• Demonstrated full P&L ownership and financial management experience, including quoting, estimating, job costing, margin management, cost control, capital investment, and EBITDA performance.
• Proven ability to manage projects from initial customer requirements and quotation through engineering, procurement, build, testing, commissioning, and customer acceptance.
• Experience managing project budgets, schedules, supplier relationships, scope changes, and commercial risks while protecting profitability and customer commitments.
• Demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, and lead a strong management team across engineering, project management, manufacturing, and technical disciplines.
• Strong understanding of mold construction, tool building, part design, process development, equipment selection, and high-volume production requirements.
• Experience standardizing engineered solutions, developing repeatable system architectures, or scaling a custom equipment or automation business is highly desirable.
• Ability to lead technical teams working with PLCs, robotics, industrial controls, machine vision, manufacturing data, and emerging AI-enabled manufacturing technologies. Direct programming expertise is not required if the candidate can effectively lead and evaluate these technical disciplines.
• Experience working with large, sophisticated customers and managing demanding technical specifications, project milestones, quality requirements, and delivery expectations.
• Strong commercial judgment, customer communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to balance technical requirements against cost, schedule, performance, and return on investment.
• Experience establishing operational discipline, management systems, performance metrics, and continuous improvement practices in a growing or changing organization.
• Preferred: Experience in caps and closures manufacturing, particularly high-volume injection molding, mold development, or automated production systems for caps and closures.
• Preferred: Experience leading an injection molding automation integrator, turnkey equipment manufacturer, systems integration business, or similar engineered-solutions organization.
• Preferred: Familiarity with factory acceptance testing, site acceptance testing, commissioning, machine safety standards, customer training, and post-deployment technical support.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Automation, Business, or a related field preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant industry experience.

Company Details

• Company: Configure
• Location: Clearwater, Florida
• Reports to: COO – Configure
• Work Arrangement: On-site; daily leadership presence at the facility is expected

Configure is an equal opportunity employer. The statements used herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by an employee in this position and are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the Company.

Configure is a family-owned plastic injection molding company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, with operations across five states. We create consumer goods sold by major retailers—products that improve everyday experiences for the people who use them.

What makes Configure different is how we think. We’re on a mission to reimagine familiar product categories and turn “same old” into “new and improved.” That mindset drives everything we do—from product development and manufacturing to how we invest in our people and run our operations.

Innovation at Configure isn’t limited to engineering or design teams. It shows up on the plant floor, in continuous improvement efforts, in how we adopt new technologies, and in how we support our teams. We’re always evolving—our processes, our tools, and our capabilities—because we believe the best ideas can come from anywhere.

As a family-owned company, we take a long-term approach to growth. We value accountability, collaboration, and people who take pride in their work. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to make an impact, learn new skills, and help shape how we build products and run our business.

If you’re looking for a place where innovation is expected, initiative is encouraged, and your work truly matters, we’d love to Kreate the future together.