Assistant Operations Manager

Elby Professional Recruitment; Waterloo; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health benefits

3 weeks vacation

Week schedule: Mon-Thu

Friendly team

Shape processes

Job summary

Elby Professional Recruitment's client in Waterloo is seeking an Assistant Operations Manager to be the Operations Manager's right hand on the production floor, overseeing a ~10-person team and driving smooth daily operations and improvements.

The role offers a competitive base salary from 80,000 to 85,000 CAD, extended health care, long-term disability, a Health Spending Account, 3 weeks vacation, and a Mon-Thu schedule with a half day Friday in a small, friendly team environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of supervisory experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong organizational, administrative, and communication skills.
• Experience communicating directly with customers.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• Mechanical aptitude and ability to identify maintenance issues.
• Hands-on, lead-by-example style; approachable.
• LEAN manufacturing experience is an asset.
• Interest in growing into broader operations leadership over time.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Operations Manager's right hand on the production floor.
• Lead health & safety initiatives, quality standards, and manpower planning.
• Train, mentor, and manage a production team of about 10.
• Balance workload between standard and custom orders, maintaining productivity.
• Map out manufacturing processes for custom orders lacking SOPs.
• Manage daily production documentation and reporting.
• Review purchase orders against packing slips prior to invoicing.
• Enter and process customer orders, and communicate with customers.
• Conduct inventory counts and manage consumables.
• Support purchasing and issue maintenance work orders as needed.
• Maintain and adjust the production schedule.
• Support accounts payable and receivable functions.

Skills

Supervisory experience

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Customer communication

Mechanical aptitude

Time management

Lead by example

LEAN manufacturing

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Assistant Operations Manager Our client is a well-established, family-feel manufacturer in Waterloo. They're a hands-on, no-politics shop where people genuinely enjoy coming to work - and they're growing fast, with plans to potentially triple in size over the next five years. Reporting directly to the Operations Manager, this is a right-hand-person role: you'll be the Operations Manager's voice on the production floor, supporting daily operations, leading a team of about 10, and helping the business run smoothly across two very different sides of production. This is a genuine career-track opportunity for someone who wants to grow into an Operations Manager role as the company scales.

What Our Client Has to Offer

• Competitive base salary ranging from $80,000-$85,000
• Extended Health Care, Long-Term Disability, and a Health Spending Account
• 3 weeks vacation
• Monday-Thursday schedule, half day Friday - DAYS
• A small, tight-knit, genuinely friendly team
• The chance to help build and shape processes rather than just maintain them

What You'll Be Doing

• Serving as the Operations Manager's right hand on the production floor
• Leading health & safety initiatives, quality standards, and manpower planning to meet production schedules and targets
• Training, mentoring, and managing a production team of about 10
• Balancing workload between the standardized line and custom orders, keeping the team productive during downtime between runs
• Working hands-on with the team to map out manufacturing processes for custom orders that don't yet have an SOP
• Managing daily production documentation and reporting
• Reviewing purchase orders against packing slips prior to invoicing
• Entering and processing customer orders, and communicating directly with customers
• Conducting inventory counts and managing consumable inventory levels
• Supporting purchasing, and issuing maintenance work orders as needed
• Maintaining and adjusting the production schedule
• Supporting accounts payable and receivable functions

What You Bring

• 5+ years of supervisory experience in a manufacturing environment
• Strong organizational, administrative, and communication skills
• Experience communicating directly with customers
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office
• Mechanical aptitude - comfortable understanding basic equipment functions and identifying operational or maintenance issues
• Strong time management and prioritization skillsA hands-on, lead-by-example style - approachable rather than heavy-handed
• LEAN manufacturing experience is an asset
• A genuine interest in growing into a broader operations leadership role over time

To be eligible for this role, you must be legally eligible to work in Canada.

Please note that we use AI tools as part of our recruitment process to enhance efficiency and improve candidate experience.