Operations Director

I arrive before the rush, my calendar already a puzzle of back-to-backs. The morning starts with a glance at overnight production reports—a machine slowdown in manufacturing, inventory flags in three locations. I've learned to read the gaps between the numbers. By 8 a.m., I'm in the first of four meetings: supply chain discussing lead times, finance reviewing Q3 variance, operations team troubleshooting the production hiccup. Between calls, I walk the floor—there's no substitute for seeing where work actually happens. Lunch is often a sandwich at my desk while I model scenarios for a new staffing structure. The afternoon shifts toward strategy: a board update deck, a vendor negotiation that requires both firmness and relationship-building, and an hour coaching a promising manager through a difficult restructuring. By 5 p.m., I've touched dozens of small decisions that compound into either smooth operations or cascading chaos. The role is invisible when it works well—nobody notices seamless execution—but everyone feels it when it breaks.