Operations Manager

Sanmina Corporation; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Sanmina Corporation in the United States seeks a Sr. Operations Manager to lead manufacturing operations for data centre hardware and related components.

You will own Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and People (SQDCP) performance while aligning capacity with customer demand and growth. This role oversees fabrication, welding, painting, and assembly, and collaborates with Process Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, Maintenance, EHS, NPI, Program Management, and Business Leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Engineering Technology, Business, or related.
• Advanced degree or MBA is beneficial but not required.
• Typically 10+ years of progressive manufacturing experience.
• Typically 5+ years in manufacturing leadership roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading supervisors and multiple manufacturing departments.
• Experience with sheet metal, welding, machining, pipe/tube, bus bar, painting/coating, or similar manufacturing processes strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting data centre, electrical infrastructure, energy storage, transformer, cooling, HVAC, industrial equipment, or similar products preferred.
• Demonstrated experience improving safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and manufacturing cost.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and accountability for all manufacturing operations across the facility.
• Translate customer demand and the master production schedule into executable manufacturing plans.
• Manage the complete manufacturing flow from incoming raw materials through fabrication, finishing, assembly, testing, and shipment readiness.
• Establish daily, weekly, and monthly operating priorities.
• Lead Assembly and Fabrication Coordinators and Production Supervisors in achieving manufacturing objectives.
• Monitor production performance and initiate recovery plans when performance deviates from plan.
• Identify and remove manufacturing bottlenecks and constraints.
• Ensure effective coordination between fabrication, painting/coating, assembly, testing, and downstream operations.
• Maintain disciplined production control while responding effectively to changing customer priorities.
• Develop manufacturing capabilities to support volume growth and new-product introduction.

Skills

Manufacturing leadership

Operations management

Safety leadership

Quality improvement

Process optimization

Cross-functional leadership

Continuous improvement

Project management

Leadership of supervisors

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Engineering Technology, Business, or related

Advanced degree / MBA beneficial

Job description

Sanmina Corporation (Nasdaq: SANM) is a global powerhouse in integrated manufacturing solutions serving the fastest growing segments of the global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) market. We are a global engine providing the end-to-end manufacturing backbone for the world's most essential and innovative brands. Whether it's autonomous vehicles, life-saving medical tech, next-gen aerospace, or AI/cloud infrastructure - our integrated solutions don’t just meet standards—they redefine them.

What You\'ll Do

The Sr. Operations Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and execution of manufacturing operations supporting data centre hardware, transformer components, power distribution equipment, bus bars, and data centre cooling systems.

The position has end-to-end operational responsibility across metal fabrication, copper and aluminium bus bar manufacturing, pipe and tube fabrication, welding, machining, powder coating/painting, and mechanical/electromechanical assembly.

The Sr. Operations Manager is accountable for achieving Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and People (SQDCP) objectives while ensuring manufacturing capacity, labour, equipment, materials, and processes are aligned with customer demand and business growth requirements.

This role leads all operational areas such as Fabrication, Welding, Grinding, Painting, and Assembly, and works cross-functionally with Process Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, Maintenance, EHS, NPI, Program Management, and Business Leadership.

The Sr. Operations Manager is expected to establish a disciplined operating system, develop a high-performance manufacturing organisation, drive continuous improvement, and build the manufacturing capability required to support rapid growth in data centre and energy infrastructure markets.

• Provide leadership and accountability for all manufacturing operations across the facility.
• Manage the complete manufacturing flow from incoming raw materials through fabrication, finishing, assembly, testing, and shipment readiness.
• Translate customer demand and the master production schedule into executable manufacturing plans.
• Ensure appropriate alignment of labor, equipment, capacity, materials, and manufacturing priorities.
• Establish daily, weekly, and monthly operating priorities.
• Lead Assembly and Fabrication Coordinators and Production Supervisors in achieving manufacturing objectives.
• Monitor production performance and initiate recovery plans when performance deviates from plan.
• Identify and remove manufacturing bottlenecks and constraints.
• Ensure effective coordination between fabrication, painting/coating, assembly, testing, and downstream operations.
• Maintain disciplined production control while responding effectively to changing customer priorities.
• Develop manufacturing capabilities to support volume growth and new-product introduction.
• Products may include data center cabinets, enclosures, structural frames, transformer components, equipment skids, cooling-system structures, brackets, panels, and related fabricated assemblies.
• Provide operational responsibility for copper and aluminum bus bar manufacturing.
• Drive improvements in copper and aluminum material utilization, dimensional accuracy, productivity, s crap, quality, and manufacturing cost.
• Applications may include cooling distribution units (CDUs), manifolds, pump skids, heat-exchanger assemblies, cooling loops, and modular cooling systems.
• Provide operational leadership for powder coating, painting, and finishing processes.
• Ensure appropriate control of critical process parameters including pretreatment condition, coating thickness, adhesion, coverage, cure temperature, cure time, surface appearance, and customer-specific f Establish and reinforce a zero-incident safety culture.
• Maintain accountability for EHS performance across manufacturing.
• Ensure compliance with machine safety, lockout/tagout, PPE, hot-work, chemical handling, lifting, material handling, and environmental requirements.
• Ensure powder coating and painting operations comply with applicable ventilation, combustible-dust, fire-protection, chemical-management, and environmental requirements.
• Lead safety Gemba walks, audits, risk assessments, and corrective actions.
• Ensure incidents and near misses receive timely root-cause investigation and permanent corrective action.
• Incorporate safety and ergonomics into process, equipment, tooling, and layout decisions.
• Establish a quality-at-the-source culture throughout manufacturing.
• Ensure compliance with engineering drawings, specifications, work instructions, control plans, inspection requirements, and customer standards.
• Drive improvements in first-pass yield, scrap, rework, and Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ).
• Ensure effective containment and recovery from significant quality issues.
• Partner with Quality and Engineering on root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Apply structured methodologies such as 5 Why, Fishbone, Pareto, DMAIC, 8D, SPC, and mistake proofing.
• Ensure Engineering Change Orders and process changes are implemented effectively.
• Establish process controls for critical fabrication, coating, welding, bus bar, and assembly characteristics.

What You\'ll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Engineering Technology, Business, or a related discipline preferred.
• An advanced degree or MBA is beneficial but not required.
• Equivalent progressive manufacturing leadership experience may be considered depending on organizational requirements.
• Typically 10+ years of progressive manufacturing experience.
• Typically 5+ years in manufacturing leadership roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading supervisors and multiple manufacturing departments.
• Experience managing complex fabrication and assembly environments.
• Experience with sheet metal, welding, machining, pipe/tube, bus bar, painting/coating, or similar manufacturing processes strongly preferred.
• Experience with high-mix/high-growth industrial manufacturing environments desirable.
• Experience supporting data centre, electrical infrastructure, energy storage, transformer, cooling, HVAC, industrial equipment, or similar products preferred.
• Demonstrated experience improving safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and manufacturing cost.

Why Join Us?

Sanmina employees also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Sanmina, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation.

Sanmina is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment. Sanmina provides equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

Please be aware that this position may require access to technology, software, or technical data that is subject to U.S. export control laws. All offers of employment are contingent on the applicant either 1) being a \"U.S. Person\", defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident, or (iii) other protected individual, such as a refugee under 8 U.S.C.

• 1157 or asylee under 8 U.S.C.
• 1158; or 2) being eligible to obtain a timely export control license or license exception from the applicable U.S. federal agency.