Manufacturing Operations Manager

Lone Star Downhole Products; Cypress (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Lone Star Downhole Products is seeking a hands-on Manufacturing Operations Manager to own daily manufacturing execution on our Houston-area campus. You will oversee machining, molding, fabrication, assembly, and shipping with a focus on on-time delivery and continuous improvement.

This role requires 8+ years in precision manufacturing, strong CNC knowledge, and proven leadership. You will collaborate closely with shop floor teams and outside processors in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in precision manufacturing.
• 5+ years leading people, schedules, quality, and delivery in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong CNC machining knowledge, high-mix, low- to mid-volume shop experience.
• Experience coordinating outside processes and vendor performance.
• Ability to read technical drawings with GD&T and tolerances.

Responsibilities

• Own the production schedule and daily priorities across all manufacturing functions.
• Ensure on-time delivery, throughput, and effective resource utilization.
• Lead daily production meetings focusing on commitments and dates.
• Identify and resolve material, tooling, or vendor constraints early.
• Provide clear ownership, statuses, and completion dates for orders.

Skills

Manufacturing leadership

CNC knowledge

Scheduling

Process improvement

ERP experience

Education

Degree not required

Tools

Haas turning centers

Live tooling

Y-axis lathes

ERP systems

Dashboards

Job description

Manufacturing Operations Manager — Precision Manufacturing

Location: Houston-area, Texas | On-site

Reports to: Owner/CEO

Employment type: Full-time

Compensation: Annual salary, depending on experience, plus a 10% target performance incentive with upside to 15%

The opportunity

Lone Star Downhole Products is hiring a hands-on Manufacturing Operations Manager to take ownership of daily manufacturing execution and help lead the company through its next stage of growth.

We are a vertically integrated manufacturer with CNC machining, elastomer molding, welding/fabrication, assembly, inspection, inventory, and shipping operations across a two-building campus. Our work includes close-tolerance downhole components, MWD parts and assemblies, bearing components, rubber centralizers, specialty repairs, high-volume defense contracts, and other engineered products.

We operate approximately 15 CNC machines and routinely work with demanding materials and processes, including beryllium copper, Nitronic-50, 17-4 stainless steel, ToughMet3, titanium, Inconel, 8620, gun drilling, heat treatment, coating, EDM, and grinding.

This is not a desk-only plant-management role. The right person will be visible on the floor, technically credible with machinists, decisive when priorities conflict, disciplined with follow-through, and comfortable leading in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial company.

Primary mission

Own the reliable execution of manufacturing operations from released order through completed shipment - without requiring the Owner/CEO to serve as the daily dispatcher, expediter, and problem solver.

What you will own

• The production schedule and daily priorities across machining, molding, fabrication, assembly, outside processing, inspection coordination, and shipping.
• Clear status, next action, accountable owner, and credible completion date for every active order.
• Schedule attainment, on-time delivery, throughput, labor and machine utilization, and operational follow-through.
• Early identification and resolution of material, programming, tooling, equipment, labor, quality, or vendor constraints.
• Daily production meetings focused on commitments, constraints, owners, dates, and verified completion.
• Make-versus-buy recommendations and operational coordination with outside manufacturers and processors.
• Vendor accountability for committed dates, quality, responsiveness, and communication.
• Clear responsibilities, decision rights, and performance standards for leads and production personnel.
• Standardized processes, setup knowledge, program control, tooling readiness, and production documentation.
• Corrective action on recurring scrap, rework, late delivery, downtime, and execution failures.
• Capacity and staffing recommendations supported by measurable operational and financial logic.

CNC and technical leadership

You will not be expected to personally program every part. You must, however, understand precision CNC manufacturing well enough to evaluate setup strategy, tooling, workholding, cycle time, machine selection, manufacturability, and production risk. You must be able to challenge weak technical assumptions, support machinists and programmers, and earn credibility on the floor.

People leadership

• Set clear expectations and follow through consistently.
• Coach and develop leads, machinists, molders, fabricators, and production-support employees.
• Address performance problems promptly, directly, fairly, and with documentation when appropriate.
• Recognize strong performance and build development paths for high-potential employees.
• Create an environment where problems are surfaced early, commitments are visible, and completion is verified.
• Recommend hiring, training, reassignment, promotion, discipline, or termination when necessary.

Within approved policies and spending limits, this role will have authority to:

• Establish and revise production priorities.
• Assign manufacturing resources.
• Direct production personnel and leads.
• Approve routine overtime.
• Execute approved make-versus-buy decisions.
• Select from approved suppliers and **escalate** vendor failures.
• Stop or redirect work for safety, quality, material, or technical concerns.
• Require accurate, timely production reporting.

Major capital expenditures, major unbudgeted commitments, customer pricing, and defined strategic matters remain subject to Owner/CEO approval.

Required qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in precision manufacturing.
• 5+ years leading people, schedules, quality, and delivery in a manufacturing environment.
• Substantial experience in CNC machining, preferably in a high-mix, low- to medium-volume job shop.
• Demonstrated knowledge of CNC turning and milling, tooling, workholding, setups, cycle time, capacity, and production constraints.
• A record of measurable improvement in on-time delivery, throughput, labor efficiency, setup time, quality, or margin.
• Experience coordinating complex outside processes and managing vendor performance.
• Ability to read technical drawings and understand GD&T, tolerances, revision control, and inspection requirements.
• Strong working knowledge of work orders, routings, scheduling, inventory, material flow, purchasing, and shipping.
• Strong written and verbal communication, sound judgment, and consistent follow-through.
• Comfort using ERP records, spreadsheets, dashboards, and digital documentation.
• Willingness to work on-site and remain highly visible throughout the operation.

A degree is not required when the candidate has substantial relevant experience and a proven record of results.

Preferred qualifications

• Energy, aerospace, defense, or other close-tolerance manufacturing experience.
• Experience with exotic alloys and high-value material.
• Experience leading multiple manufacturing disciplines, including machining, molding, and fabrication.
• Experience with Haas turning centers, live tooling, Y-axis lathes, multi-axis machining, or automated cells.
• Experience implementing production dashboards, program control, setup standardization, tooling systems, or ERP discipline.
• Experience helping a founder-led company move from informal execution to a scalable operating system.

What success looks like

Within 30 days: You understand the people, machines, product families, customers, vendors, backlog, and primary constraints; establish credibility; validate open-order status; and begin owning daily priorities.

Within 90 days: Every active order has an accurate status, next action, owner, and credible completion date. Priorities are clear, late surprises are declining, outside processing is actively controlled, and daily owner intervention is measurably lower.

Within one year: On-time delivery, schedule attainment, throughput, labor efficiency, and quality have measurably improved. The operation has stronger leaders, controlled programs and setup knowledge, reliable reporting, and materially less dependence on the Owner/CEO.

The person who will succeed here

You are equally comfortable on the production floor and in the front office. You can move quickly without becoming careless, hold high standards without creating unnecessary bureaucracy, and make decisions without hiding problems. You know when to coach, when to decide, when to

This role offers direct access to ownership, meaningful authority, and the opportunity to materially shape the performance and future of a growing American manufacturer.