Director
of Operations
Location: Brantford, Ontario
Industry: Cannabis Manufacturing & Production
Employment Type: Full-Time | On-Site
Reports To: Managing Director
About
the Opportunity
Our
client is a well-established and growing cannabis company seeking an
experienced Director of Operations to lead and optimize day-to-day
operations across a large-scale, highly regulated cannabis manufacturing
environment.
This is
a senior leadership opportunity for an operationally focused professional who
can balance people leadership, production, quality, compliance, cost
management, and continuous improvement. The successful candidate will play
a key role in driving operational excellence while ensuring the organization
consistently meets Health Canada requirements, quality standards, customer
expectations, and business objectives.
Key Responsibilities
Operations
Leadership
- Provide strategic and hands-on leadership
across manufacturing, production, packaging, warehousing, and operational
support functions.
- Oversee daily operations to ensure production
targets, quality standards, timelines, and customer commitments are
consistently achieved.
- Develop and implement operational strategies
that support company growth and scalability.
- Establish KPIs, performance metrics, and
reporting processes to monitor operational effectiveness.
- Identify operational challenges and implement
practical solutions to improve efficiency, productivity, and
profitability.
Production
& Manufacturing
- Lead production planning and scheduling to
optimize capacity, labour, equipment, and resources.
- Ensure manufacturing processes are efficient,
consistent, and scalable.
- Work closely with production teams to improve
throughput, reduce downtime, minimize waste, and control operating costs.
- Support new product launches, process changes,
and facility expansion initiatives.
- Ensure equipment, facilities, and production
infrastructure are properly maintained and optimized.
Quality,
Compliance & Regulatory
- Ensure operations remain fully compliant with
applicable Health Canada regulations, Cannabis Act requirements, GMP
standards, SOPs, and internal quality systems.
- Partner closely with Quality Assurance and
Regulatory teams to maintain a strong culture of compliance.
- Ensure proper documentation, traceability,
inventory controls, sanitation, security, and quality procedures are
maintained.
- Participate in audits, inspections,
investigations, CAPAs, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Promote a culture where quality and compliance
are embedded into every aspect of operations.
People
Leadership
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing
operations team.
- Establish clear expectations, accountability,
and performance standards across departments.
- Build strong relationships with department
leaders and cross-functional teams.
- Support workforce planning, recruitment,
training, succession planning, and employee development.
- Foster a positive, collaborative,
safety-focused, and results-oriented culture.
Financial
& Business Management
- Manage operational budgets and identify
opportunities to improve margins and reduce costs.
- Monitor labour, materials, inventory,
production, and facility-related expenses.
- Use operational data and financial metrics to
support business decisions.
- Work with senior leadership to develop annual
operating plans and long-term growth strategies.
Continuous
Improvement
- Drive Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous
improvement methodologies where appropriate.
- Identify opportunities to streamline
processes, improve productivity, and eliminate inefficiencies.
- Establish a culture of continuous improvement
and operational accountability.
- Use data and technology to improve visibility,
forecasting, reporting, and decision-making.
Requirements
Qualifications
& Experience
- 8–12+ years of progressive operations
leadership experience, ideally within cannabis, pharmaceuticals, food
manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, nutraceuticals, or another highly
regulated manufacturing environment.
- 5+ years in a senior operations or plant
leadership position.
- Proven experience leading large teams and
complex, multi-functional operations.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing,
production planning, inventory, warehousing, and supply chain operations.
- Experience operating within a highly regulated
environment and working with formal quality and compliance systems.
- Strong understanding of GMP, SOPs, quality
systems, and regulatory compliance.
- Demonstrated success improving productivity,
reducing costs, increasing throughput, and implementing operational
efficiencies.
- Strong financial acumen with experience
managing budgets and operational KPIs.
- Excellent leadership, communication,
negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
- Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management,
Engineering, Business, Supply Chain, or a related discipline is preferred.
The
Ideal Candidate
The
ideal candidate is a hands-on, commercially minded operations leader who
is comfortable working at both the strategic and tactical levels. You are
someone who can build strong teams, establish accountability, improve
processes, and drive measurable results while maintaining the highest standards
of quality, safety, and regulatory compliance.
Experience
within the cannabis industry is highly preferred, but candidates from other highly
regulated manufacturing environments with transferable operational
leadership experience will also be considered.
If you
are an accomplished operations leader looking for an opportunity to make a
meaningful impact within a large-scale cannabis organization, we would welcome
the opportunity to speak with you.
Benefits
What the
Company Offers
- Senior leadership opportunity with a growing
and established cannabis organization.
- Opportunity to make a significant impact on
operational strategy and business performance.
- Competitive compensation package based on
experience.
- Comprehensive benefits package.
- Professional growth and advancement
opportunities.
- Collaborative executive leadership
environment.
- Opportunity to lead and develop a
high-performing operations organization.
