Vice President Operations

VP - Operations

Detroit, MI or Milwaukee, WI | Automotive Manufacturing | Confidential Client

We’re leading a retained VP Operations search on behalf of a recently acquired PE-backed Automotive component manufacturer. The VP will partner with the CEO and investors to scale a fast-growing specialty business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead strategic operations across production, engineering, quality, and supply chain.

• Transform to scalable production systems.

• Deploy Lean operating mechanisms to drive improvements in safety, quality, delivery, and cost.

• Build a culture of daily management, kaizen, and problem-solving.

• Prepare the business for exponential growth through process standardization, capacity expansion, and M&A integration.

• Represent the company with high-end customers and OEM executives.

Ideal Background:

• Senior operations leader (COO, SVP Ops, GM) in automotive components or adjacent high-mix, low-volume industries (yachts, luxury vehicles, RV conversions, custom manufacturing).

• Proven success scaling organizations using Lean tools (VSM, kaizen, standard work, tiered daily management, policy deployment).

• Entrepreneurial, "business owner" mindset with hands-on leadership style; comfortable engaging with global OEMs and discerning customers as well as shop floor operators.

Why this role:

Step into a VP role at a newly PE-backed growing organization. This is a fantastic opportunity to scale an already successful business. You’ll partner with a CEO and Board who want a true player-coach: someone who can think like an owner, execute with discipline, and scale a business.

Confidential Search Notice

This search is being led by Next Level Partners, LLC as a retained executive search partner. While NLP is the job poster, this opportunity is not within NLP directly, and company details will be shared with qualified candidates during the selection process.