You may not know our name, but you know our products. What we make is part the places where we live, work and play – all day, everyday.

Zekelman is a family of companies — 100% domestic manufacturers — with a legacy dating back to 1877. We’re proud to be the largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturer in North America and the leading innovator in multi-family housing development.

We believe in what we build and what we build, builds the world around us. Hospitals, hotels, schools, bridges, airports and more.

Come build a career you believe in.

Job Summary:

The Director, Operational Improvement & Sustainability is responsible for driving operational excellence and sustainable performance improvements across the company. This role will lead a dedicated improvement team that partners with senior leaders, plant management, and HR to develop and implement effective operating practices, strengthen leadership routines, and build the capability needed to sustain results.

Job Description:

Operational Improvement & Sustainability Leadership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive operational excellence strategy that improves productivity, quality, and cost efficiency.
• Establish and monitor KPIs to evaluate performance improvements, identify gaps and operational outcomes.
• Lead cross-functional improvement projects that deliver measurable ROI.
• Embed sustainability principles into all aspects of people management, ensuring workforce practices support long-term organizational resilience and responsibility.

• Design and implement training programs that build accountability and are easily repeatable.
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing across facilities, ensuring best practices and lessons learned are captured, communicated, and adopted.

Leadership & Change Management

• Build a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and sustainability across the Business Units.
• Lead and develop a dedicated Continuous Improvement team, providing direction, coaching, and support to ensure consistent, high-impact delivery across sites.
• Collaborate with executives to ensure improvement and sustainability strategies support growth, competitiveness, and regulatory requirements.

• Foster a culture of accountability, engagement, and innovation across the workforce.
• Develop future leaders by modeling effective leadership behaviors and creating opportunities for cross-department exposure and growth.

General

• Leads and promotes healthy and safe work practices as required by regulatory agencies and Company policy
• Regular and predictable, full-time hours. Ability to also work off shift hours to observe alternate shifts.
• Performs other duties as they may be assigned
• Acts as a subject matter expert to advise both internally & externally
• Strong understanding of manufacturing.

Qualifications & Competencies

• Bachelor’s degree required; field of study is flexible.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in operations or manufacturing, with demonstrated success leading multi-site or large-scale teams in complex, fast-paced industrial environments.
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing teams, while coaching plant managers, supervisors, and front-line leaders to strengthen execution and accountability.
• Experience developing and applying KPIs to drive measurable improvements in key business outcomes such as tons per hour, variable cost per ton, downtime reduction, quality, and safety performance.
• Experience developing, standardizing, and maintaining best-practice documentation and playbooks to support consistency and scalability across sites.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build trust, foster relationships, provide clear feedback, and influence leaders at all levels of the organization.
• Advanced ability with Microsoft Excel and other business tools; capable of building operating reports, analyzing performance data, and presenting insights to senior leadership to support decision-making.
• Ability and willingness to travel extensively across Zekelman facilities in North America.

• Travel may vary, approx. 25-50%.

The compensation for this role is $138,000 - 248,000 plus 15% bonus.

Zekelman Industries offers competitive compensation and excellent benefits, including low-cost, high-quality medical and dental benefits. In addition, we have an amazing tuition assistance program, a bonus plan, a 401(k) plan with a generous company match, immediate vesting, and much more.

M/F/D/V

We are Zekelman Industries.

We manufacture superior quality tubular and related products, and provide outstanding service for our valued customers.

We seek to continuously advance the skills and opportunities of our employees, utilizing the latest technology and management tools available to consistently increase profitability and the enterprise value of Zekelman Industries and of our customers.