Vice President of Operations, Americas - McAllen - Marmon Foodservice Technologies

Description

Location: McAllen / Pharr, TX

(with enterprise oversight of operations in McAllen & Pharr, TX; Reynosa, Mexico; Carol Stream, IL; Brooklyn Park, MN; and Monmouth, IL)

About the Role

Though you may not know us by name, you've most likely enjoyed meals and refreshments supported by our industry-leading brand portfolio. For decades, we've designed and manufactured foodservice equipment for some of the world's biggest, most recognized consumer brands. We are driven to innovate with a clear purpose in mind: revolutionize the future of foodservice.

The Vice President of Operations, Americas is a senior executive leader responsible for the end-to-end operational performance of a ~$500M multi-site manufacturing and supply network across the United States and Mexico.

This role carries direct line responsibility for the Pharr, TX operation, which is a critical, technology-enabled manufacturing site and the primary focus of the role in its initial years. In addition, the VP Operations maintains enterprise accountability for all direct and indirect operations tied to Pharr and spanning the broader MFT Americas footprint, including Reynosa and U.S. legacy sites.

The role provides enterprise leadership for manufacturing, automation, footprint strategy, and operational execution, balancing near-term delivery with long-term scalability and margin expansion.

Reporting to the Vice President, Finance & Operations, Americas, this role serves as a key member of the Americas leadership team and plays a central role in shaping capital deployment, operating model design, and enterprise execution.

What You'll Do

Direct Site Leadership – Pharr, TX (Primary Accountability)

• Serve as the direct operational leader for the Pharr, TX greenfield facility, with full accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people.
• Lead planning, design, and readiness activities during the approval and pre-launch phase, transitioning to full operational leadership as the site comes online (targeted for early 2027).
• Lead day-to-day execution while building scalable systems, standards, and leadership capabilities.
• Ensure Pharr operates as a model site for automation, productivity, and operational discipline from day one.

Enterprise Operations Leadership

• Provide executive oversight across all MFT Americas manufacturing and operations sites, ensuring alignment, performance transparency, and consistent standards.
• Balance site-level accountability with enterprise standardization and shared best practices.
• Lead cross-border operations across the U.S. and Mexico, integrating regulatory, labor, cultural, and cost considerations.

Greenfield Development & Advanced Manufacturing (Critical Requirement)

• Co-lead in partnership with Business Transformation team, the design, build, and ramp-up of technology-driven greenfield manufacturing capacity, including layout, automation strategy, workforce model, and operating standards.
• Translate business requirements into scalable manufacturing systems leveraging automation, robotics, and digital tools.
• Ensure greenfield investments are sequenced, ROI-driven, and execution-focused, with clear milestones and accountability.

Footprint Strategy & Automation

• Own manufacturing footprint strategy, including site roles, capacity planning, and regionalization decisions.
• Lead make/buy and automation vs. labor trade-offs to optimize cost, resilience, and speed to market.
• Partner with Engineering, IT, and the Business Transformation team to advance digital manufacturing and operational visibility.

Financial & Performance Accountability

• Full ownership of operational P&L performance, including conversion cost, productivity, fixed-cost absorption, and margin delivery.
• Own operational budgets, capital planning, and return-on-investment discipline.
• Drive working capital improvement through inventory optimization, flow, and execution rigor.
• Establish and manage enterprise KPIs across safety, quality, delivery, cost, cash, and people.

Talent, Culture & Change Leadership

• Build and develop a strong bench of site and regional operations leaders.
• Lead large-scale operational and organizational changes, including automation deployment and operating model evolution.
• Foster a high-performance, accountable culture grounded in safety, ownership, and continuous improvement.

Who You Are

• A builder-operator who has led both steady-state operations and complex transformations.
• An enterprise-minded leader comfortable owning a critical site while thinking and acting at system scale.
• A hands-on executive equally credible in the plant and the boardroom.
• A values-based leader who delivers results through disciplined execution and strong teams.

Skills & Experience

Required

• Direct experience leading the development and ramp-up of technology-enabled greenfield manufacturing facilities (automation-forward, digitally enabled).
• 15+ years of progressive manufacturing and operations leadership experience, including multi-site responsibility.
• Senior-level experience (VP or equivalent) leading complex manufacturing operations.
• Proven success with automation, robotics, PLC-driven systems, and advanced manufacturing.
• Strong financial acumen, including P&L ownership, capital planning, and ROI discipline.
• Cross-border operations experience across the U.S. and Mexico.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, Operations, or related field.
• Fluent in English; Spanish strongly preferred.

Preferred

• MBA or advanced degree.
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent.
• Experience in decentralized, capital-disciplined, or private-enterprise operating environments.

About Marmon Holdings

Marmon Inc. comprises more than 120 autonomous businesses serving diverse industries and markets worldwide. Each Marmon business operates independently within a group structure that provides access to the expertise of other Marmon businesses with related products and services, or which serve the same customers or markets. Together, they employ about 30,000 people at more than 650 manufacturing, distribution, and service facilities located primarily in the United States, as well as 22 other countries. Founded in 1953 and privately held until 2008, Marmon today is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.