Chief Operating Officer (Roanoke)

On the heels of achieving 3X growth , Virginia Transformer is hiring to do it again!

We’re strategically building our team for the next 3X growth cycle — a phase that is both intense and incredibly rewarding . We’re highly selective about who joins us, because this journey isn’t for everyone.

If you have the drive, grit, and expertise to perform at a high level — and you want to grow your career 3X alongside the Company’s growth — we’d love to talk.

Apply below and let’s start the conversation.

Who We Are

Virginia Transformer is the largest U.S.-owned producer of power transformers in North America, and we’ve been able to grow the past 50-plus years through an unwavering focus on delivering for our customers. We’re more than 5,900 people strong and are known throughout the industry for being an engineering company that makes premium quality transformers in the shortest lead times.

As a privately held, organically growing company , we thrive on nimbleness, innovation, and tenacity.

Join Our Team

If you love the thrill of securing the U.S. electric grid, enabling all manufacturing in the country, and the energy of a fast-moving train — this is the place for you. We train hard, grow together, and lead with purpose. Every transformer we build is custom, every challenge unique, and every team member essential.

We’re looking for those ready to lead, fueled by commitment, and driven by impact. We are growing so fast that all our available roles are not yet posted, so let us know if you are interested and we will follow-up.

Role Overview

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Virginia Transformer Corporation owns the enterprise operational execution platform of the business. This role is accountable for ensuring that manufacturing operations, facilities, manufacturing engineering, equipment, test capability, and physical infrastructure operate reliably, safely, and at scale in support of a complex, made-to-order fast growing manufacturing environment.

This role is unique in that it is responsible for not only the current manufacturing capability, but also in building, maintaining, and scaling the operating system that enables consistent output, quality, and delivery across multiple plants, all of which are growing in scale and output.

As a privately held, high-growth industrial manufacturer with 5,500+ employees and 24/7 operations , the COO ensures that Virginia Transformer’s people, processes and execution remain a competitive advantage.

Key Responsibilities

1. Production and Capacity Management

• Establish consistent operational standards, policies, and controls across plants
• Implement scalable operating models that support growth without chaos
• Ensure achievement of production volume, cost, quality, and delivery targets
• Optimize capacity utilization and plant productivity
• Lead S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning) and demand fulfillment
• Ensure operational readiness for new products, customers, and capacity expansions

2. Multi-Plant Leadership Governance

• Provide overall leadership for multiple manufacturing plants across locations
• Lead and mentor Plant Heads, Operations Directors, and Engineering Leaders
• Build leadership pipeline and succession planning
• Drive performance culture, workforce productivity, and engagement
• Ensure standardization of processes, systems, and KPIs across plants
• Drive best-practice sharing and benchmarking between plants
• Oversee facility planning, expansion, modernization, and consolidation initiatives

3. Maintenance, Reliability & Asset Management

• Lead enterprise maintenance strategy for all production, test, and support equipment
• Drive reliability engineering, preventive maintenance, and uptime optimization
• Establish asset lifecycle management standards across plants
• Reduce unplanned downtime and extend asset life through disciplined execution

4. Manufacturing Engineering, Quality & Process Capability

• Standardize processes, tooling, layouts, and work methods for efficiency and repeatability
• Drive process capability, throughput improvement, and waste reduction
• Ensure compliance with quality systems (ISO, customer standards, regulatory norms)
• Drive zero-defect culture and continuous quality improvement
• Lead major audits and customer escalations
• Ensure alignment between commercial demand, engineering requirements, and equipment capacity

5. Supply Chain, Logistics and Procurement

• Oversee procurement, logistics, warehousing, and inventory management
• Develop strategic supplier partnerships
• Reduce working capital and improve inventory turns

6. Health, Safety and Environmental

• Establish and enforce uniform HSE standards across plants
• Drive zero-accident and environmental compliance culture
• Ensure adherence to all statutory requirements
• Ensure plants and support facilities are safe, compliant, and optimized for production flow

7. Executive Leadership & Cross-Functional Alignment

• Serve as a core member of the Executive Leadership Team
• Partner closely with the CEO, CCO, CHRO, SVP Supply Chain, CTO, and CFO
• Translate growth strategy into executable operational infrastructure
• Act as a steward of long-term operational health, not short-term fixes

What This COO Owns (Explicitly)

• Manufacturing processes and Schedule attainment
• Buildings & facilities
• Maintenance & reliability
• Manufacturing engineering
• Equipment control, maintenance & capital assets
• Test equipment & technical execution in plants

What this role does not directly own:

• Sales & commercial strategy
• HR & people operations

Why This Role Matters at Virginia Transformer

At Virginia Transformer:

• Meet customer promise dates
• Equipment availability determines delivery
• Test capability determines credibility
• Supporting people and facilities to meet expectations of safety, scale, and speed
• Managing accelerated growth while delivering superior product

This COO role ensures the operating system never becomes the bottleneck to growth.

Ideal Profile

• Senior operations executive experience in industrial manufacturing or engineered products
• Deep expertise in facilities, industrial manufacturing execution, manufacturing engineering, safety and Supply Chain execution
• Proven success scaling physical operations in high-mix, low-volume environments
• Strong executive presence with disciplined execution mindset
• Experience in private, founder-led, or high-growth organizations preferred

Success Measures (First 12–24 Months)

• Production schedule attainment
• Improved equipment uptime and plant reliability
• Scalable facilities and test infrastructure aligned with growth
• Reduced operational risk and unplanned downtime
• Strong capital discipline and ROI on major investments
• Clear operational standards across all sites

Qualifications & Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Finance, Engineering (Mechanical/Electrical/Industrial)
• Advanced degree preferred (MBA or equivalent executive education)
• Supply Chain experience preferred

Professional Experience

• 18-25+ years manufacturing experience
• Proven track record managing multi-site operations
• Experience operating in privately held, high-growth, or complex global manufacturing organizations preferred