Area Manager, Front End Production, BlueOval Battery Park Michigan

Ford-Motor-Company; Marshall (MI); On-site; USD 142,000 - 268,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Parental leave

Vehicle discount

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Job summary

Ford Motor Company in Michigan seeks a strategic leader to drive KPI delivery and Lean manufacturing initiatives across a Battery Park plant, aligning teams to a shared vision. You will foster a culture of trust, diversity, and continuous improvement while mentoring leaders at all levels.

Ideal candidates bring 5+ years in manufacturing leadership, strong communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills, with willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of manufacturing, engineering, or operations leadership experience.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as required.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of KPIs to ensure department objectives support overall business objectives.
• Drive continuous improvement and Lean Manufacturing principles.
• Motivate teams by leveraging technology and best-in-class manufacturing systems.
• Serve as a Subject Matter Expert for KUP, partnering with Area Managers to rollout systems plant wide.
• Leverage MES and real-time data to identify bottlenecks and implement sustainable solutions.
• Support employees by removing barriers to their success and developing their knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Skills

Emotional intelligence

Cross-cultural leadership

Leadership

Process management

Project management

Financial literacy

Communication

Collaboration

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or related field

Master's degree (nice to have)

Job description

At BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, you will...

• use your entrepreneurial skills and team mindset to come up with data-driven solutions
• build and lead an agile team to deliver the advanced technology that drives the future
• create a culture of trust, encourage diversity of thought and foster leadership in others
• be part of the historic transformation of the automotive industry.

In this position...

What you'll do...

• Achieve business results by leading the development and delivery of Key Performance Indicator’s to ensure department objectives support overall business objectives.
• Drive continuous improvement and Lean Manufacturing principles.
• Motivate teams by leveraging technology and best-in-class manufacturing systems.
• Serve as a Subject Matter Expert for Key Unifying Processes (KUP), partnering with other Area Managers to lead the standardized rollout and continuous evolution of these systems plant wide.
• Leverage manufacturing execution systems (MES) and real-time data to identify bottlenecks and implement sustainable solutions.
• Support employees by removing barriers to their success and developing their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Lead change efforts to construct and achieve manufacturing standards.
• Demonstrate empathy and embrace Gemba philosophy by engaging regularly with employees in production environments to listen and problem solve.
• Champion the formation of the culture required to achieve the Vision, Mission, and Values to deliver performance objectives.
• Enable a culture of learning through demonstration of effective communication skills.
• Develop ‘leaders as teachers’ at all levels by ensuring all employees receive necessary training, coaching, and support to optimize performance and advance both the overall organization as well as self.
• To lead and align diverse, multicultural teams to achieve a unified business strategy.

Capabilities Required:

• Emotionally intelligent leader who remains calm in ambiguous situations.
• Able to align team members from different backgrounds and cultures to achieve business strategy.
• Strong leadership skills and experience leading, attracting, and developing strong results-oriented teams.
• Experience managing high degrees of complexity in processes and communication with all levels of leadership.
• Strong business acumen and project management skills
• Collaborative leadership style is necessary to influence and build meaningful relationships with all cross functional teams.
• Good communicator with a proven ability to build trust, influence, and foster relationships.
• Strong project management skills and financial literacy (P&L understanding).

Candidates must possess full flexibility and a readiness to consistently work across all established standard, operating, and rotational shift schedules, encompassing day, night, weekend, and holiday shifts.

Candidates must possess full flexibility and a readiness to consistently work across all established standard, operating, and rotational shift schedules, encompassing day, night, weekend, and holiday shifts.

You’ll have...

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related field.

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years ofmanufacturing, engineering, or operations experience in leadership roles.
• Proven ability to communicate complex operational concepts to all levels of leadership, from shop floor operators to executive stakeholders.
• Demonstrated track record of attracting, developing, and retaining high-performing, results-oriented teams.
• Ability to travel both domestically and internationally as required.

Even better, you may have...

• Master’s Degree.
• 5+ years of specific experience in Battery cell manufacturing or advanced Electromechanical assembly
• Experience succeeding in high levels of complexity, exposure, to multiple business issues, ambiguity, and conflict.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder...or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is leadership level 5 and ranges from $141,700-$268,300. Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive