Hands-On Production Leader for Continuous Improvement

armtecdefensetechnologies; Coachella (CA); On-site; USD 110,387 - 153,138; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

HSA with generous company contribution

FSA - Medical & Dependent Care

Life and Accident Insurance

Disability Insurance

Parent Leave Pay

Employee Assistance Program

Vacation

Sick Leave

Holidays

401(k) matching

Tuition Assistance

Job summary

Armtec Defense Technologies in Coachella, CA seeks a hands-on Production Manager to drive plant performance and lead a high-performing team across Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Safety, Materials and Planning. You will own safety, quality, productivity, and lifecycle improvements while developing supervisors and delivering measurable results.

The role requires a four-year degree, 10+ years of manufacturing experience, and the ability to lead change in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Requires a minimum of 10 years of manufacturing/operational experience.
• Demonstrated ability to lead supervisors, develop employees, and improve manufacturing performance.
• Strong understanding of safety, quality, production planning, throughput, labor efficiency, OEE, reliability, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead production activities in compliance with Armtec’s Safety and Environmental Policies.
• Drive daily production execution to meet customer schedules, build plans, forecasts, and delivery commitments.
• Own production performance metrics, including safety, quality, schedule adherence, throughput, labor efficiency, scrap, rework, and cost per unit.
• Develop and mentor Production Supervisors so they can lead meetings, own department performance, and drive accountability at the production level.
• Establish manufacturing priorities for Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Materials, Planning, and other support functions.
• Partner closely with Maintenance to improve equipment availability, reduce unplanned downtime, improve MTBF, reduce MTTR, and support reliability‑centered execution.
• Partner closely with Engineering to identify bottlenecks, remove process constraints, execute productivity projects, and implement permanent corrective actions.
• Lead daily management routines, production reviews, IPT meetings, and action‑item follow‑up to ensure the plant is aligned and moving forward.
• Drive continuous improvement, S.M.A.R.T. initiatives, material yield improvement, scrap reduction, labor productivity, and waste elimination.
• Create clear ownership for capital and productivity projects that affect production areas, including expected return, schedule, resources, and delivery of promised benefits.
• Evaluate and communicate the financial and operational impact of productivity, capital, manpower, and forecast decisions, including expected return, resources required, and timing of benefit realization.
• Use weekly graphs, scorecards, and trend reviews to measure improvement and ensure the organization is always moving forward.
• Use budget, forecast, labor, throughput, and productivity data to make decisions and drive accountability across the production organization.
• Build a cohesive production and support team that can solve problems quickly and execute with urgency.
• Actively participate in new product development, production launch, capacity planning, and labor estimates for proposals.
• Own and manage production budget responsibilities for assigned areas, including labor, overtime, consumables, scrap, rework, and controllable production costs.

Skills

Leadership

Operations management

Safety & Quality

Education

Four-year degree

Job description

Armtec Defense Technologies in Coachella, CA seeks a hands-on Production Manager to drive plant performance and lead a high-performing team across Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Safety, Materials and Planning. You will own safety, quality, productivity, and lifecycle improvements while developing supervisors and delivering measurable results.

The role requires a four-year degree, 10+ years of manufacturing experience, and the ability to lead change in a fast-paced environment.