Interim COO Mexico (Sr. Director of Operations)

THE COMPANY

We have been retained to find an Interim Mexico COO by a U.S. based small global medical device company who develops and manufactures miniature components for minimally invasive medical devices used in high-growth clinical specialties. Our client has operations in the USA, Australia and Mexico and seeks a Mexico Interim COO for a 12 month project with the possibility of a permanent role.  This position wil be based in Mexicali, Mexico and will be responsible for doubling the size of the operation to supply North America.

THE POSITION

Objectives:

Our client is looking for a local business leader to deliver on 3 core objectives:

• Achieve the short-term ambition to double the site turnover.
• Coach the site plant manager in building and leading the local leadership team.
• Put in place industry best-in-class operating practices including Lean / Continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Responsible for  P&L management and overseeing Mexicali site and management team.
2. Ensure processes are in place to properly predict and lift revenue (double revenue) to achieve targets.
3. Align engineering resources to ensure proper prioritization.
4. Establish projects that further drive P/L performance.
5. Responsible for meeting the KPI’s:  Revenue, product yield, and operating profit.
6. Develop a high performing team who understands “accountability”.
7. Improve performance of third value stream.
8. Implement robust SOP’s on newly transferred processes.
9. Establish controls.

This position is an interim role for up to 12 months based in Mexicali, BC Mexico, reporting to the Corporate COO based in the USA. There is a possibility that this role could become permanent but there are no guarantees. This role has constant interaction with the steering committee, Corporate COO and the CEO, among other senior leadership based in the USA  and with the Mexicali Plant Manager, Quality Manager, Engineering Manager, among others.

THE CANDIDATE

Core Specifications:

• Previous experience as a VP or Director of Operations in manufacturing (seniority role or COO-equivalent profile in a small highly regulated company) with oversight for Mexico.
• Strong P&L ownership experience and good business acumen.
• Comes from a technical background (e.g. production or engineering)
• End-to-end site leadership experience across engineering, quality, production.

Other Required Qualifications:

• Results-oriented with a strong bias for action and drive for impact.
• Positive leader who holds others accountable.
• Mexico-based leadership experience
• Lean / OPEX / Continuous Improvement expertise
• Successful background leading aggressive ramp-ups, operational transformations, and process improvements.
• Medtech / Medical Devices or other highly regulated sector experience (i.e. Aerospace, Automotive, Pharma, Food & Beverage or similar)
• Fluent in Spanish and English

Desired Qualifications (“Nice to have”):

• Nitinol / precious metal manufacturing experience
• Metal Tubing manufacturing experience
• Micro-machining (or high precision machining) and coating experience
• Experience working with Private Equity and PE-backed companies.