Director, Pilot Plant Manufacturing
Buckman · Memphis, TN
- Level
- Director+
- Team
- Production
- Travel
- 10%
- Degree
- Required
- Experience asked
- 10+ years
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- Recently
The role in 30 seconds
A director-level production role at Buckman (industrial) in Memphis, TN.
- They ask for
- 10+ years · degree required
- Tools it names
- Lean, Six Sigma, Root cause, EHS / safety
- Day to day
- about 10% travel
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026
Production Engineer roles in the US: typical posted base $116k–$158k.
Median of the low and high ends of 241 live postings that list pay, out of 787 production engineer openings in the US, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
Tennessee plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 17 other live production postings in Tennessee.
- Experience asked
- More than usual (10+ vs 5+)
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Lean 56%
- Team leadership 50%
- ✓ Six Sigma 28%
- ✓ Root cause 22%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Production team at Buckman
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- The posting says about 10% travel. Between which sites?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
Full description from BuckmanAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Position Summary
The Director, Pilot Plant Manufacturing is a strategic and hands-on leader responsible for pilot plant operations, process scale-up, commercialization support, process safety, continuous improvement, and technical leadership. This role serves as the critical link between Research & Development and Manufacturing, ensuring innovative technologies are safely, efficiently, and successfully transitioned from laboratory development to commercial production.
The ideal candidate is a chemical engineering or manufacturing leader with deep expertise in pilot plant operations, process safety, scale-up, and operational excellence within the chemical, specialty chemical, or related manufacturing industries.
Qualifications
- ✓Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering required; Chemistry degree considered with significant manufacturing and process engineering experience.
- ✓10+ years of experience leading pilot plant, chemical manufacturing, or process development operations.
- ✓5+ years of people leadership experience within a manufacturing or technical environment.
- ✓Proven experience in process scale-up, commercialization, and technology transfer.
- ✓Experience with specialty chemicals, industrial chemicals, or related manufacturing industries.
- ✓Strong understanding of process safety management, hazard analysis, and regulatory compliance.
- ✓Fundamental understanding of regulatory space, particularly FIFRA, TSCA, and RCRA
- ✓Lean Six Sigma / Design for Six Sigma background is a plus
- ✓Financial acumen (MBA degree a plus)
We appreciate the interest of recruitment partners, but we are not engaging external agencies for this role.
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Director, Pilot Plant Manufacturing
Buckman – Memphis, TN
Location: Memphis, TN
Language: English
Travel: up to 10%
Buckman is a privately held, global specialty chemical company with headquarters in Memphis, TN, USA, committed to safeguarding the environment, maintaining safety in the workplace, and promoting sustainable development. Buckman delivers exceptional service and innovative solutions to our customers globally in the pulp and paper, leather, and water treatment sectors to help boost productivity, reduce risk, improve product quality, and provide a measurable return on investment.
Pilot Plant Operations & Leadership
- •Lead all pilot plant operations to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient execution of
development and production campaigns.
- •Prioritize and schedule pilot-scale trials, experiments, and production activities.
- •Manage equipment reliability, preventative maintenance, and capital improvement
projects.
- •Develop and maintain operating procedures, P&IDs, and process documentation.
Process Safety, Compliance & Quality
- •Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, PSM, EHS, and applicable regulatory requirements.
- •Lead Process Hazard Analyses (PHA), Management of Change (MOC), Pre-Startup Safety Reviews (PSSR), incident investigations, and Job Hazard Analyses (JHA).
New Product Scale-Up & Commercialization
- •Translate laboratory-developed chemistries into pilot-scale and manufacturing-ready processes.
- •Lead scale-up planning, including mass and energy balances, equipment sizing, and process optimization.
- •Support technology transfer to manufacturing sites and provide preliminary cost estimates for business case evaluations.
Continuous Improvement & Manufacturing Support
- •Lead Lean and Six Sigma initiatives to improve safety, quality, productivity, and cost performance.
- •Facilitate cross-functional problem-solving and root cause analysis efforts.
- •Utilize operational data to improve yield, reliability, and process performance.
Strategic Sourcing Support
- •Provide technical expertise in evaluating alternate and replacement raw materials.
- •Conduct bench and pilot-scale testing to assess feasibility, quality, and operational impact.
SOP Governance & Document Management
- •Lead the Corporate Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) program and document management system.
- •Ensure manufacturing sites comply with corporate document control standards and approval workflows.
Basic