Senior Director, Operations

Overview

CS Power Systems, a division of Canadian Solar, is focused on accelerating the shift to clean energy by delivering solar-powered electricity at scale. The business develops and manufactures solar panels, inverters, and energy storage solutions, and operates within a broader renewable energy ecosystem that includes CS Power Systems, CSPowerTech, e-STORAGE, Recurrent Energy, MSS, and CSI Solar. The role is based in Mesquite, Texas and is part of a fast-growing manufacturing environment with a strong sustainability mission.

The Senior Director, Operations will lead key operational functions across multiple sites, bringing structure, discipline, and continuous improvement to planning, logistics, fulfillment, industrial engineering, and transformation initiatives. This position is designed for a senior leader who can balance customer commitments with stable plant execution while building scalable systems for long-term performance.

Primary Responsibilities

Master planning

• Develop and refine planning rules and master data controls such as lead times, yields, routings, pack specifications, minimum order quantities, and operating constraints.
• Run exception-based planning when disruptions occur, including material shortages, equipment downtime, and quality holds, and coordinate fast recovery plans with relevant teams.
• Set up and oversee the multi-site planning cadence, including sales and operations planning, supply reviews, capacity reviews, and governance routines.
• Manage the master production schedule and the weekly and monthly rolling plan, including freeze periods, change management, and escalation handling.
• Direct capacity reviews and bottleneck management, coordinating shift plans, labor availability, maintenance timing, and line preparedness.

Logistics

• Oversee inbound and outbound logistics across three sites, including carrier selection strategy and third-party logistics governance where needed.
• Improve transportation efficiency by reducing cost, optimizing load building and routing, consolidating shipments, and shortening shipping cycle times, while managing detention and demurrage when applicable.
• Maintain compliance with shipping paperwork, trade compliance requirements where relevant, and customer packaging and labeling standards.

Order fulfillment

• Own the full fulfillment process from order release through shipment and delivery performance, ensuring visibility, discipline, and accountability.
• Set and enforce ATP/CTP logic, allocation policies, prioritization rules, and escalation paths to protect plant stability while meeting customer commitments.
• Work with Sales, Commercial, and Customer Service teams to convert demand into executable supply plans without disrupting operations.
• Monitor backlog health, expedite controls, customer-critical order war-room processes, and root-cause closure for missed commitments.
• Create performance dashboards covering OTIF, backlog aging, lead times, and expedite rate, then use them to drive corrective action and reliability gains.

Industrial engineering

• Own the industrial engineering strategy across sites, including line balancing, standard work, labor standards, and takt and cycle-time optimization.
• Lead productivity improvements through better layouts, improved material flow, ergonomics, feasibility studies for automation, and indirect labor optimization.
• Develop labor models and staffing plans that align with the master schedule and quantify productivity targets and savings.
• Guide structured problem-solving and continuous improvement programs, including A3, 8D, Kaizen, and sustainment practices that prevent backsliding.
• Partner with Operations, Quality, and Maintenance to reduce scrap and rework and improve process capability using data-led methods.

Special projects and transformation

• Lead cross-site transformation work such as ERP, MES, and WMS improvements, planning system upgrades, and operational standardization.
• Own project governance, including charters, milestones, ROI and business cases, risk and issue tracking, and executive-level updates.
• Drive readiness for ramp-ups involving new lines, new products, or capacity expansion, ensuring clear execution across people, process, equipment, and materials.
• Lead integration efforts across functions and sites, including organizational redesign, operating model alignment, and KPI harmonization.
• Support lasting change through training, SOP updates, and audit mechanisms.

Required Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, or a related discipline is required; a master’s degree is preferred.
• At least 10 years of leadership experience in manufacturing operations is expected, with strong preference for candidates who have led planning, logistics, and industrial engineering together.
• Demonstrated success managing multi-site operating rhythms and delivering measurable gains in delivery performance, cost, and productivity.
• Strong command of lean manufacturing, standard work, constraint management, root cause analysis, and KPI governance.
• Proven stakeholder management skills across Sales, Commercial, Planning, Operations, Quality, and Finance teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in high-volume discrete manufacturing such as solar/module/cell production, electronics, automotive, or battery manufacturing.
• Experience with ERP or MES implementation, or broader transformation programs.
• Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or equivalent continuous improvement leadership experience.

Leadership Competencies

• Strong execution discipline, high attention to detail, and a clear accountability mindset.
• Ability to weigh customer demand against plant stability and make sound decisions under constraints.
• Capability to lead change and develop talent across functions and locations.
• Comfort communicating with executives and presenting structured reporting.

Additional Information

This opportunity is part of a mission-driven clean energy organization that emphasizes sustainability, innovation, and long-term positive impact. The role sits within a global renewable energy ecosystem and supports the broader effort to advance solar-powered electricity worldwide.