General Manager - Corrugated Packaging Manufacturing

Position Overview

A leading organization within the corrugated packaging industry is seeking an experienced General Manager to oversee a manufacturing facility in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. This individual will have full responsibility for the overall performance, profitability, operational effectiveness, and strategic direction of the site.

The General Manager will oversee all major plant functions and will be accountable for driving results across safety, quality, production, cost, productivity, financial performance, employee development, and customer satisfaction. This position requires a strong manufacturing leader with previous corrugated industry and corrugator experience, as well as the ability to lead teams, manage financial performance, improve plant operations, and support commercial growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for the manufacturing facility, ensuring the plant consistently achieves operational, financial, safety, quality, and customer service objectives.
• Maintain responsibility for overall plant profitability, including management of the P&L, operating budgets, capital expenditures, cost controls, and financial performance.
• Develop and execute short-term and long-term business strategies that align plant performance with broader organizational objectives.
• Lead manufacturing operations with a strong focus on improving productivity, throughput, efficiency, quality, waste reduction, downtime, and overall cost performance.
• Drive a strong safety culture throughout the facility and ensure applicable safety, environmental, and quality standards are consistently maintained.
• Lead, coach, develop, and motivate plant leadership and operational teams while creating a high-performance and accountability-driven culture.
• Identify opportunities for operational improvement and implement continuous improvement initiatives designed to increase efficiency, profitability, and overall plant performance.
• Partner closely with sales and commercial leadership to identify opportunities for local and regional business growth, support key customer relationships, and ensure manufacturing capabilities align with customer expectations.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with teams across operations, production, sales, logistics, safety, quality, maintenance, and other business functions to improve overall performance and customer service.
• Evaluate plant performance data and financial metrics to identify trends, anticipate potential issues, and implement corrective actions before they negatively impact the business.
• Support capital planning and identify equipment, technology, process, or facility investments that can improve capacity, productivity, reliability, or profitability.
• Lead organizational change and plant improvement initiatives while ensuring employees at all levels understand key business objectives and performance expectations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, or a related discipline.
• 7+ years of progressive leadership experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Minimum of 5 years of operations and/or production management experience.
• Must have experience within the corrugated packaging industry.
• Must have direct experience working with corrugator operations and understand the corrugated sheet manufacturing process. Experience within a sheet plant environment is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing plant financials, P&L performance, operating budgets, capital budgets, and financial data.
• Proven ability to lead large or diverse manufacturing teams and develop supervisors, managers, and other operational leaders.
• Demonstrated success improving plant performance across areas such as safety, quality, productivity, cost, efficiency, and profitability.
• Strong understanding of continuous improvement principles and the ability to identify and execute operational improvement initiatives.
• Ability to develop strategic business plans and translate organizational objectives into measurable plant-level results.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with the ability to proactively identify risks and implement solutions.
• Excellent leadership and communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate with employees at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to work collaboratively with commercial teams and maintain a strong customer-focused approach to plant operations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams through operational or organizational change while maintaining employee engagement and accountability.

Preferred Experience

• Previous General Manager, Plant Manager, Operations Manager, or senior manufacturing leadership experience within the corrugated packaging industry.
• Experience leading a corrugated sheet plant or similar corrugated manufacturing operation.
• Strong knowledge of corrugator operations, sheet production, scheduling, maintenance, quality, and plant productivity metrics.
• Experience driving continuous improvement, capacity optimization, cost reduction, or plant transformation initiatives.
• Experience partnering with sales teams to support customer relationships and identify opportunities for business growth.