Job Description

Alcott Global is working with a leading chemicals company to recruit a Plant Director based in Germany.

Role Purpose

The Plant Director is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and sustainable growth of a strategically important manufacturing site in Germany. The role has full accountability for plant operations, ensuring world-class standards in safety, operational excellence, quality, cost, and customer satisfaction.

Beyond leading manufacturing, this role plays a key part in supporting the commercial success of the business by engaging directly with customers, representing the company at industry events, and partnering with the commercial team to grow specialty product lines. The successful candidate will combine strong operational leadership with a customer-oriented mindset.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day operations of the manufacturing plant, ensuring safe, reliable, and efficient production.
• Maintain high standards of performance across:
  • Safety
  • Production output
  • Product quality
  • Cost control
  • Asset utilization
  • Operational KPIs
• Foster a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with all environmental, health, safety, quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure production targets are achieved while maintaining product quality, delivery commitments, and cost objectives.
• Effectively manage plant operations in a resource-constrained environment, making sound operational decisions and prioritizing available resources.
• Provide visible, hands-on leadership by working closely with frontline supervisors and operators to resolve day-to-day operational challenges.
• Coach, develop, and motivate plant personnel to build a culture of accountability, teamwork, and operational discipline.
• Work closely with maintenance, engineering, quality, supply chain, and commercial teams to ensure smooth plant operations and customer satisfaction.
• Build and maintain strong customer relationships through customer visits, technical discussions, and issue resolution.
• Represent the company at customer meetings, trade fairs, and industry events.
• Support the commercial organization by providing technical expertise on specialty products and helping identify customer needs and market opportunities.

Requirements

• Degree in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, or a related technical discipline. Master's degree or PhD preferred.
• Significant leadership experience in plant management within the specialty chemicals, organic chemicals, or related chemical manufacturing industry.
• Strong technical background in organic chemistry and chemical manufacturing processes, with a solid understanding of specialty products.
• Proven track record of leading a single manufacturing site with full operational accountability.
• Experience managing production operations with limited resources while maintaining high standards of safety, quality, productivity, and cost performance.
• Hands-on leadership style with the ability to engage directly with shop floor teams in a predominantly manual manufacturing environment.
• Strong coaching and people development capabilities, particularly with frontline supervisors and operators.
• Sound understanding of process safety, manufacturing regulations, environmental compliance, and quality management systems.
• Experience interacting directly with customers and supporting technical discussions related to specialty products.
• Commercial awareness with the ability to support business development initiatives alongside sales teams.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across manufacturing, commercial, technical, and executive teams.