Yard Manager – Heavy Industrial / Pipe Manufacturing Operations

Location: Little Rock, Arkansas

A leading heavy manufacturing and logistics operation is seeking a hands-on Yard Manager to oversee the safe, disciplined, and efficient operation of a large industrial yard supporting pipe manufacturing, staging, inventory flow, and customer shipment readiness.

This is a plant-based operational leadership role responsible for day-to-day execution across material flow, yard operations, manpower deployment, equipment utilization, inventory accuracy, and dispatch readiness within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead safe and efficient yard operations supporting plate, WIP, finished goods, quality hold material, staging, and outbound shipments
• Manage daily yard flow including unloading, storage, stacking, transfer staging, shipment preparation, and dispatch readiness
• Oversee safe handling of heavy materials including pipe, steel plate, cranes, forklifts, loaders, yard trucks, and rigging activities
• Ensure compliance with all HSE standards including pre-shift safety meetings, equipment inspections, traffic control, housekeeping, and safe lifting practices
• Coordinate closely with manufacturing, quality, maintenance, logistics, rail, port, and inventory teams to support production continuity and customer delivery requirements
• Maintain disciplined inventory and location accuracy through SAP/WMS transactions, cycle counts, physical verification, and material tracking processes
• Lead and develop a team of supervisors, equipment operators, material handlers, yard personnel, and support staff across multiple shifts
• Manage manpower allocation, overtime control, shift handoffs, equipment deployment, and daily execution priorities
• Support on-time customer shipments through proper staging, loading coordination, documentation accuracy, and escalation of operational constraints
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing re-handling, congestion, dwell time, damage, overtime, and overall handling cost per ton
• Utilize KPI reporting and root-cause analysis to improve operational performance, inventory accuracy, safety, and shipment reliability
• Support hiring, onboarding, training, cross-training, and performance management of yard operations personnel

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of experience in heavy industrial yard operations, logistics, material handling, steel/pipe operations, warehouse operations, rail/truck/barge loading, or manufacturing support environments
• 3–5+ years of supervisory leadership experience managing hourly operations teams in industrial or manufacturing environments
• Experience leading large teams of operators, material handlers, supervisors, and yard personnel in a fast-paced operational setting
• Strong knowledge of heavy equipment operations, safe lifting practices, rigging, pipe/plate stacking, traffic flow management, and industrial housekeeping
• Experience with inventory management systems, SAP/WMS/ERP systems, cycle counting, location control, and material tracking processes
• Ability to support shift-based operations including weekends and customer-critical operational schedules
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills

Preferred Experience

• Steel, pipe, line pipe, plate, structural steel, energy infrastructure, rail transloading, port operations, or heavy manufacturing experience strongly preferred
• Experience supporting new facility start-ups, operational ramp-ups, yard expansions, or large-scale logistics operations
• OSHA, forklift, crane/rigging, rail safety, or related industrial safety certifications preferred
• Experience with KPI dashboards, continuous improvement, 5S, visual management, and operational performance systems preferred

Leadership Profile

The ideal candidate is a highly visible, hands-on operational leader who prioritizes safety, accountability, execution discipline, inventory accuracy, and continuous improvement while building strong cross-functional relationships across manufacturing, logistics, quality, maintenance, and supply chain operations.