Career Area:
Manufacturing
Job Description:
Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.
When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.
About Us:
With 2024 sales and revenues of $64.8 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.
For 100 years, we’ve been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed.
Caterpillar does business on every continent, principally operating through three primary segments – Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation – and providing financing and related services through our Financial Products segment.
Job Summary:
Caterpillar is currently seeking a Director of Operations for our Athens, GA facility. This leader will have responsibility for the strategic and day-to-day manufacturing operations for one of Caterpillar’s key production sites in North America predominantly focused on the manufacturing and assembly of our Mini Hydraulic Excavators and Small Track-Type Tractors (small dozers) for our Building Construction Products division. Additionally, you will oversee a Product Distribution Center located on the Athens, GA campus.
This leader will be responsible for leading this 1300 employee facility with a focus on driving operational excellence, ensuring safety and quality standards, optimizing production efficiency, while fostering a high-performance and highly engaged culture. This role requires a leader with deep manufacturing expertise, strong leadership, development and people management skills, and a commitment to lean and continuous improvement processes.
Responsibilities:
• Managing staffing, development, and performance management programs for operations staff; managing, motivating, and developing management team.
• Overseeing operations activities, ensuring that schedules and performance requirements are met and system resources are used effectively.
• Maintaining relationships with business, sales, and engineering; coordinating strategies, communications, and joint initiatives for multiple and distributed facilities.
• Monitoring overall operations performance and implementing production, cost, and quality control mechanisms.
• Driving lean manufacturing philosophies into existing production and management processes.
• Driving a high performing safety culture.
Degree Requirement:
Degree or equivalent experience desired
Skill Descriptors
Effectiveness Measurement:
Knowledge of effective measurement techniques and ability to measure the quality and quantity of work effort for the purpose of improvement.
• Monitors planned improvement efforts in quality and productivity.
• Uses recognized industry benchmarks.
• Evaluates improvement efforts in quality and productivity.
• Uses measurements to drive improvement in a number of different ways.
• Supervises others in their use of data collection, analysis, and reporting tools.
• Defines, captures and monitors metrics for multiple functions.
Managing Multiple Priorities:
Knowledge of effective self-management practices; ability to manage multiple concurrent objectives, projects, groups, or activities, making effective judgments as to prioritizing and time allocation.
• Clarifies and handles multiple concurrent and diverse activities.
• Shifts focus among several efforts as required by changing priorities.
• Addresses potential conflicts that impact current delivery commitments.
• Works with or leads others to re-prioritize work and reschedule commitments as necessary.
• Responds to shifting priorities while maintaining progress of regularly scheduled work.
• Demonstrates an expectation that there will be ongoing shifts in demands and priorities.
Capacity Planning & Management - MFG:
Knowledge of tools, approaches and practices for determining production demand and ability to manage resources needed to provide satisfactory levels of service.
• Works with R&D (research & development) staff to plan resource and capacity requirements for products under development.
• Creates consolidated forecasts for multiple product lines and production facilities.
• Advises on multiple cycles of short- and long-term capacity planning for product or site.
• Compares and contrasts alternative approaches and tools for capacity planning.
• Develops estimates and costs for incremental capacity requirements.
• Translates demand forecasts into production and capacity requirements.
Manufacturing Operations:
Knowledge of manufacturing operations; ability to perform day-to-day operations of a manufacturing plant or facility for products.
• Builds a monitoring system to track manufacturing operation activities.
• Sets and oversees all operational routines for departments and staff.
• Oversees proper safety and security procedures to ensure accreditation approval.
• Designs strategies to minimize machinery problems and safety risks within the organization.
• Develops plans for movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units.
• Leads discussions on the history and evolution of manufacturing plants and associated services and functions.
Manufacturing Safety:
Knowledge of manufacturing safety; ability to identify work-related hazards and perform necessary activities to meet regulatory requirements for the safety and protection of workers, environment and site.
• Consults on the use of new tools and techniques for safety protection.
• Performs safety inspections to assure compliance with OSHA requirements.
• Designs and implements emergency response processes and procedures.
• Promotes workplace safety among supervisors and workers; communicates safety rules and regulations.
• Assesses and reports unusual or new safety hazards or violations; initiates corrective action.
• Ensures that all employees and contractors comply with relevant safety policies and regulations.
Plant Operation and Maintenance:
Knowledge of plant operation principles, methods and processes; ability to handle day-to-day and strategic issues, operational requirements and management of a manufacturing facility.
• Participates in the evaluation and selection of plant operations and maintenance systems.
• Participates in planning for automating operations and retooling of an assembly line.
• Consults on operations routing and back-up capabilities.
• Analyzes plant floor operations; evaluates trends and implements corrective actions as necessary.
• Works with complex issues in all major production runs and their criticalities for the manufacturing organization.
• Advises others on key aspects of effective and efficient operation and workload optimization.
Production Systems Operation:
Knowledge of a full spectrum of production system operation activities and tools; ability to utilize various techniques to operate equipment and systems involved in the production of deliverables.
• Works with advanced features and functions of a complex production system.
• Evaluates problems in production systems and determines necessary solutions/improvements.
• Advises others on key aspects of effective and efficient operation of a plant.
• Participates in implementing equipment and system changes that impact production.
• Monitors various production systems; ensures they function within standard policies and procedures.
• Participates in resolving complex system problems; consults on manual overrides.
Additional Details:
• The role is based out of the Athens, GA facility and will be on-site five days a week.
• Domestic relocation is offered for this role.
• Sponsorship is not provided for this role.
• This position is eligible for stock or other equity grants pursuant to Caterpillar’s long-term incentive plan.
Summary Pay Range:
$199,680.00 - $299,520.00
Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.
Benefits:
Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.
Medical, dental, and vision benefits*
Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*
401(k) savings plans*
Health Savings Account (HSA)*
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*
Health Lifestyle Programs*
Employee Assistance Program*
Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*
Career Development*
Incentive bonus*
Disability benefits
Life Insurance
Parental leave
Adoption benefits
Tuition Reimbursement
* These benefits also apply to part-time employees
Posting Dates:
October 9, 2025 - October 17, 2025
Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.
Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.
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