Operations Manager, Custom Upholstery

Emblem; Chino (CA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Emblem in Chino, CA, is seeking an experienced Operations Manager, Custom Upholstery, to lead our furniture manufacturing floor. This hands-on leadership role emphasizes craftsmanship, quality, and respectful team leadership.

You will oversee framing, sewing, upholstery, and finishing, coordinate with Purchasing and CAD, develop SOPs, and coach a skilled production team on-site to deliver high-quality pieces on schedule.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a custom upholstery or skilled production team.
• Strong knowledge of upholstered furniture construction and quality standards.
• Bilingual English/Spanish communication abilities.
• Experience supervising a factory floor or shop team.
• Experience improving processes, SOPs, or factory systems.
• Ability to lead firmly without creating an authoritarian environment.
• Must work on-site in Chino, CA.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily flow across framing, sewing, upholstery, assembly, packaging, and shipping.
• Lead and develop the production team including upholsterers, carpenters, sewers, cutters, and production support staff.
• Plan production schedules based on deadlines, materials, team capacity, and project complexity.
• Troubleshoot custom upholstery and furniture construction challenges with the team.
• Review work in progress and finished pieces for quality, accuracy, consistency, and readiness for delivery.
• Improve communication between Production, Purchasing, Client Services, CAD, and ownership.
• Coordinate with Purchasing to ensure materials, frames, fabric, foam, and supplies are ready when needed.
• Support shipping and receiving coordination so finished work is protected, organized, and delivered on time.
• Help create and improve SOPs, production visibility systems, quality checkpoints, and cross‑training practices.
• Keep the factory organized, safe, and moving efficiently.
• Set clear expectations for attendance, productivity, quality, safety, and communication.
• Help hire, train, coach, discipline, and, when needed, terminate production employees.
• Work with HR support on documentation, write‑ups, and employee issues.
• Build a strong team culture based on respect, accountability, craftsmanship, and good communication.

Skills

Production leadership

Upholstery knowledge

Factory supervision

Production scheduling

Lean & 5S

Cross-functional collaboration

Bilingual English/Spanish

Job description

**If job posting is up, we are accepting and reviewing applicants.**

Emblem is a growing commercial furniture manufacturer specializing in custom upholstered banquettes, booths, modular seating, and lounge furniture for commercial spaces.

We are looking for an experienced Operations Manager, Custom Upholstery to lead and strengthen our factory operations in Chino. This person must have real experience in upholstered furniture production, ideally with custom upholstery, commercial furniture, hospitality seating, and/or residential lounge furniture.

This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who understands how upholstered furniture is built, can recognize quality work, and knows how to help a skilled production team solve the kinds of challenges that come up in custom manufacturing.

The right person will bring structure, accountability, organization, and clear communication to the factory floor while respecting the craftsmanship and people behind the work.

What You'll Do

• Oversee the daily flow of work through the factory, including framing, sewing, upholstery, assembly, packaging, and shipping.
• Lead, support, and develop our production team, including upholsterers, carpenters/frame builders, sewers, cutters, and production support staff.
• Help plan production schedules based on deadlines, materials, team capacity, and project complexity.
• Troubleshoot custom upholstery and furniture construction challenges with the team.
• Review work in progress and finished pieces for quality, accuracy, consistency, and readiness for delivery.
• Improve communication between Production, Purchasing, Client Services, CAD, and ownership.
• Coordinate with Purchasing to help ensure materials, frames, fabric, foam, hardware, and supplies are ready when needed.
• Support shipping and receiving coordination so finished work is protected, organized, and delivered on time.
• Help create and improve SOPs, production visibility systems, quality checkpoints, and cross‑training practices.
• Keep the factory organized, safe, and moving efficiently.
• Set clear expectations for attendance, productivity, quality, safety, and communication.
• Help hire, train, coach, discipline, and, when needed, terminate production employees.
• Work with HR support on documentation, write‑ups, and employee issues.
• Build a strong team culture based on respect, accountability, craftsmanship, and good communication.

What We're Looking For

• Experience managing or leading a custom upholstery, furniture, or similar skilled production team is required.
• Strong knowledge of upholstered furniture construction and quality standards.
• Ability to problem‑solve custom furniture builds, not just follow a standard production line.
• Bilingual English/Spanish communication skills are required.
• Experience supervising a factory floor, plant, or shop team.
• Strong understanding of production flow, scheduling, safety, quality control, and shop organization.
• Experience improving processes, workflow, SOPs, production visibility, or factory systems.
• Ability to lead firmly and respectfully without creating an authoritarian environment.
• Comfortable handling employee performance issues and difficult conversations.
• Strong follow‑through, attention to detail, and pride in quality work.
• Must be able to work on‑site in Chino, CA.

Helpful Experience

• Commercial furniture, banquettes, booths, hospitality furniture, or residential lounge furniture.
• Experience with COM/COL fabrics, foam, frames, sewing, cutting, patterning, and custom upholstery details.
• Experience with Lean, 5S, visual production tracking, safety programs, or continuous improvement.
• Experience coordinating across purchasing, production, shipping, receiving, project management, and design/CAD.
• Experience working in a growing company where systems are still being built.

About the Right Fit

We are looking for someone who can earn the respect of skilled craftspeople while bringing more structure and accountability to the factory. The right person is calm, practical, fair, organized, and hands‑on. You MUST have high‑level experience in furniture manufacturing.

We do not want a manager who leads through fear. We need someone who can create a stronger team, improve the flow of work, strengthen communication, and help us continue raising the quality and consistency of what we build.

This is an important leadership role at Emblem. We are looking for someone who can help us build stronger systems while preserving the care, craft, and flexibility that make custom furniture work successful.