Operations Manager

LHH; South Bend (IN); On-site; USD 125,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package

Paid time off

401(k) with company match

Health insurance

Job summary

LHH is seeking an Operations Manager with Injection Molding experience for a Direct Hire, Permanent Placement near South Bend, IN. This role combines hands-on technical molding with strategic operations leadership to scale a growing manufacturing operation.

You will strengthen manufacturing standards, partner with engineering and production, develop technical talent, and drive continuous improvement across programs, shifts, and tooling.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or Plastics Engineering is required.
• Minimum of 5+ years of leadership experience within the manufacturing industry is required.
• Minimum of 10+ years of experience within engineering, operations, and/or production-related roles is required.

Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing operations to achieve safety, quality, productivity, cost, and delivery objectives.
• Establish consistent manufacturing standards, operating expectations, and accountability across multiple shifts.
• Implement scientific molding principles to improve process stability, repeatability, quality, and efficiency.
• Partner with engineering to successfully industrialize and launch new programs into production.
• Strengthen collaboration between manufacturing, engineering, quality, maintenance, materials, and technical teams.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives targeting throughput, scrap, downtime, changeovers, labor, and material utilization.
• Establish KPIs and use manufacturing data to identify performance gaps and improvement opportunities.
• Lead structured problem-solving and root-cause efforts addressing recurring manufacturing and process challenges.
• Evaluate capacity, equipment utilization, workflows, and plant layouts to support future growth.
• Assess automation, equipment, and technology investments to improve productivity, consistency, safety, and scalability.
• Develop technical capabilities among supervisors, processors, technicians, and other manufacturing personnel.
• Establish standardized process setup, validation, documentation, monitoring, and troubleshooting practices.
• Support production readiness, tooling trials, process qualifications, capacity planning, and manufacturing launches.
• Promote an accountable, collaborative culture focused on operational discipline and continuous improvement.
• Communicate operational performance, capital requirements, improvement priorities, and project progress to leadership.

Skills

Injection molding

Leadership

Process optimization

Data-driven decision making

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor degree in Engineering / Manufacturing / Plastics

5+ years leadership in manufacturing

10+ years experience in engineering/ops/production

Job description

LHH is seeking an Operations Manager with Injection Molding experience for a Direct Hire, Permanent Placement position with a manufacturing client located near South Bend, IN. This is a unique opportunity to take broad ownership of a growing manufacturing operation while combining hands-on technical molding expertise with strategic operations leadership. In this role, you will strengthen manufacturing standards, improve the partnership between engineering and production, develop technical talent, and help build a more disciplined, scalable operation capable of supporting increasingly complex programs. The compensation is commensurate to experience and will range between $125,000-140,000 per year plus bonus and includes comprehensive benefit and insurance plans, generous Paid Time Off, and a 401K plan with a company match.

***Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without employer sponsorship.***

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead manufacturing operations to achieve safety, quality, productivity, cost, and delivery objectives.
• Establish consistent manufacturing standards, operating expectations, and accountability across multiple shifts.
• Implement scientific molding principles to improve process stability, repeatability, quality, and efficiency.
• Partner with engineering to successfully industrialize and launch new programs into production.
• Strengthen collaboration between manufacturing, engineering, quality, maintenance, materials, and technical teams.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives targeting throughput, scrap, downtime, changeovers, labor, and material utilization.
• Establish KPIs and use manufacturing data to identify performance gaps and improvement opportunities.
• Lead structured problem-solving and root-cause efforts addressing recurring manufacturing and process challenges.
• Evaluate capacity, equipment utilization, workflows, and plant layouts to support future growth.
• Assess automation, equipment, and technology investments to improve productivity, consistency, safety, and scalability.
• Develop technical capabilities among supervisors, processors, technicians, and other manufacturing personnel.
• Establish standardized process setup, validation, documentation, monitoring, and troubleshooting practices.
• Support production readiness, tooling trials, process qualifications, capacity planning, and manufacturing launches.
• Promote an accountable, collaborative culture focused on operational discipline and continuous improvement.
• Communicate operational performance, capital requirements, improvement priorities, and project progress to leadership.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor Degree in Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or Plastics Engineering is required
• Minimum of 5+ years of leadership experience within the manufacturing industry is required
• Minimum of 10+ years of experience within engineering, operations, and/or production-related roles is required
• Must have experience with injection molding processes and providing technical leadership within manufacturing operations
• Ideal candidates will have experience with scientific molding, process validation, and standardized manufacturing practices.
• Ideal candidates will have experience with continuous improvement, root-cause analysis, and process optimization.
• Ideal candidates will have experience supporting new product development, capital projects, and automation.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to make data-driven manufacturing decisions.
• Strong cross-functional communication skills with the ability to effectively partner across technical and operational teams.
• ***Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without employer sponsorship.***

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

To read our Candidate Privacy Information Statement, which explains how we will use your information, please navigate to https://www.lhh.com/us/en/candidate-privacy

The Company will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and/or security clearance requirements, including, as applicable:

• The California Fair Chance Act
• Los Angeles City Fair Chance Ordinance
• Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers
• San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance