Industrial Director – Multi-Site Operations
Industrial Manufacturing
INDUSTRIAL DIRECTOR MULTI-SITE OPERATIONS
LOCATION: Bucharest or surrounding area | National Responsibility | Industrial Manufacturing
We are searching for a strategic and hands-on industrial leader to coordinate and elevate the industrial footprint of a national network of production units, part of a leading international group active in the construction materials sector.
As Industrial Director, you will take full responsibility for multiple manufacturing sites across Romania, ensuring the alignment of operational performance, safety, and culture with group standards, while navigating the complexity of integrating two distinct industrial entities into a unified and future-ready platform.
This is an important role in a context of transformation, requiring both strategic vision and executional rigor, as well as a people-focused leadership style capable of empowering site teams and fostering continuous improvement.
ROLE OVERVIEW
The Industrial Director will lead the full industrial operations for two merged business units, each with its own culture, maturity, and systems. The scope includes the production of construction-related materials across several sites in Romania.
Reporting directly to the Country Operations Director, the role involves overseeing plant performance, cost efficiency, CAPEX and OPEX planning, and driving alignment with operational excellence standards across all sites.
The successful candidate will act as the key driver of transformation—harmonizing structures, bridging cultural differences, and coaching plant managers toward a more integrated, performance-oriented model.
KEY CHALLENGES AND SUCCESS FACTORS
Leading a Dual Legacy: The two business units have distinct industrial histories—one highly integrated, the other more entrepreneurial. Success depends on harmonizing their structures, standards, and expectations.
Multi-site Management: The role covers several production facilities, each with different levels of automation, maturity, and leadership capacity.
People & Culture: Strong leadership is needed to engage plant teams, develop successors, and embed a culture of ownership, safety, and continuous improvement.
Cross-Functional Alignment: The Industrial Director will collaborate across functions (Supply Chain, Quality, EHS, Maintenance) and navigate matrix structures with both local and regional stakeholders.
Operational Excellence: Ensure adherence to group industrial systems (including WCM pillars), while remaining agile to market needs and resource constraints.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Operations Management & Performance
- Lead and align plant operations nationally, ensuring consistency in KPIs, safety, quality, and cost performance
- Oversee investment planning (CAPEX), maintenance strategies, and production output
- Coordinate process and system integration across all sites
People Development & Plant Leadership
- Manage and coach multiple Plant Managers and their direct teams
- Identify skill gaps, build local leadership pipelines, and drive accountability
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement, safety, and accountability
- Empower teams across legacy and newly integrated sites
Transformation & Integration
- Harmonize operational processes between newly integrated business units
- Implement common industrial standards, reporting systems, and continuous improvement tools
- Act as a change agent for cultural integration, mindset shift, and performance enhancement
Cross-functional Collaboration
- Work closely with central functions such as Supply Chain, EHS, Maintenance, Engineering and Quality
- Support SAP and digital system rollouts at plant level
- Represent operations in S&OP and industrial planning cycles
- Coordinate with plant managers and functional leads to implement group standards
CANDIDATE PROFILE
Professional Background
- Minimum 10 years in industrial operations, with at least 5 in multi-site leadership
- Background in industrial sectors such as building materials, process industries, light industrial, chemicals, packaging, or similar
- Proven experience in managing plant networks, leading transformation programs and post-M&A alignment, and implementing operational excellence systems (e.g., WCM, Lean, TPM)
- Hands-on experience with CAPEX planning and industrial cost control
- Strong leadership track record in managing both mature and less structured industrial teams
Leadership Style
- Coaching, empowering, and collaborative leadership style, Hands-on and people-focused leader
- Able to influence across matrix structures and diverse plant cultures with excellent stakeholder management and cross-functional influencing skills
- Strong sense of ownership, with a pragmatic and coaching-oriented approach
- Results-driven, with a pragmatic and adaptive mindset
Other Requirements
- Romanian language is mandatory; English fluency required
- Willingness to travel regularly across production sites
WHY THIS ROLE?
This is a rare opportunity to lead a national-scale industrial transformation under the umbrella of a highly reputable international group. You will have full operational responsibility across multiple sites and the strategic mandate to shape the future of an integrated, efficient, and people-first production platform.
The role offers strong visibility, long-term impact, and a key voice in shaping the group’s industrial roadmap in the region.
APPLICATION PROCESS
If this opportunity resonates with your background and aspirations, we invite you to apply by submitting your CV. All applications will be treated in full confidentiality. Shortlisted candidates will go through a structured evaluation process focused on leadership, technical capability, and cultural fit.
If, this opportunity does not interest you, but you would like to recommend a member of your professional network who might have the right profile and a potential interest in pursuing it, please don’t hesitate to forward them this ad or directly send us their coordinates.
Please consider that only the suitable candidates will be contacted for interview, but we appreciate everyone’s interest in our projects and would like to keep in touch for future projects.
Pendl & Piswanger offers HR and management advisory services in the last 40 years in CEE. As members of InterSearch, a worldwide executive search firm with more than 100 offices in 50 countries, we are amongst the top search firms globally and operate across all major industry sectors. We are experienced, innovative, and totally committed to our clients who gain competitive advantage by hiring great people. For more information, please visit www.ro.intersearch.org.