Production and Facilities Senior Manager

Hightower; High Point (NC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Hightower in the United States is seeking a hands-on Production & Facilities Manager to lead all manufacturing operations, drive safety, maintenance, and continuous improvement across production planning, upholstery, cutting, sewing, assembly, and facilities.

You will supervise two Production Managers, manage capacity and labor costs, and partner with cross-functional teams to meet schedules and quality standards while enabling growth.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of manufacturing or production management experience.
• 3-5 years of experience managing production employees and supervisors.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and workflow.
• Experience with equipment maintenance and facility operations.
• Strong problem-solving and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Strong communication and leadership skills.
• Ability to work hands-on with production teams and facility personnel.
• Experience in upholstery, furniture, textile, sewing, or related manufacturing.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing or continuous improvement.
• Experience with preventive maintenance programs.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead daily production activities to ensure customer orders are completed on time and meet quality standards.
• Manage production schedules, staffing levels, overtime, and workflow to meet company goals.
• Monitor production capacity and identify bottlenecks before they impact customer delivery dates.
• Coordinate with Planning, Sales, Project Management, Warehouse, Purchasing, and Customer Experience teams.
• Ensure materials, components, fabric, foam, frames, hardware, and other parts are available when needed for production.
• Establish priorities when production capacity or materials are limited.
• Monitor daily and weekly production performance against established goals.
• Identify opportunities to increase throughput, reduce downtime, and improve labor efficiency.
• Support outsourcing decisions when internal capacity is exceeded.
• Ensure production areas are properly organized and employees have the tools and resources needed to perform their jobs.
• Maintain upholstery manufacturing processes including fabric receiving and inspection.
• Pattern making, pattern matching, and repeat matching.
• CNC cutting and fabric cutting; sewing.
• Foam and frame preparation; upholstery assembly and finishing; quality inspection; packaging.
• Ensure standard work instructions and processes are followed.
• Identify opportunities to improve methods and reduce rework.
• Work with Engineering, Product Development, and Quality teams to resolve manufacturing issues.
• Ensure new products are properly prepared for production before launch.
• Support development and training of employees in specialized manufacturing skills.
• Establish and maintain high-quality standards throughout manufacturing.
• Monitor defects, rework, scrap, and customer complaints.
• Identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Hold production teams accountable for quality at each stage.
• Develop processes that prevent defects rather than relying on final inspection.
• Partner with Quality, Product Development, and Customer Experience teams to resolve recurring issues.
• Lead, coach, and develop production and facilities employees.
• Establish clear expectations for supervisors, leads, and team members.
• Hold employees accountable for safety, quality, productivity, attendance, and performance.
• Develop supervisors and leads to become stronger leaders.
• Cross-train employees to improve flexibility and production capacity.
• Identify skill gaps and establish training plans.
• Build a culture of teamwork, accountability, communication, and continuous improvement.
• Recognize strong performance and address performance issues promptly and fairly.
• Oversee maintenance, repair, and operation of the company's building, grounds, and manufacturing facility.
• Develop and manage preventive maintenance programs for production equipment and facility systems.
• Coordinate maintenance projects with internal staff and outside contractors.
• Champion a culture of workplace safety throughout the organization.
• Ensure production equipment, utilities, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and other facility systems remain safe and operational.
• Maintain an organized, clean, and professional manufacturing environment.

Skills

Manufacturing Leadership

Production Planning

Team Leadership

Lean Manufacturing

Continuous Improvement

Problem Solving

Communication Skills

Hands-on Leadership

Tools

ERP/MRP systems

Job description

The Production & Facilities Manager is responsible for leading all manufacturing operations while ensuring the safety, maintenance, and functionality of the company's facilities. This position provides strategic and day-to-day leadership for production planning, manufacturing performance, capacity management, facilities maintenance, and continuous improvement.

Reporting to the VP of Operations, the Production & Facilities Manager supervises two Production Managers, the Cut & Sew Department and is accountable for delivering production goals safely, efficiently, and on schedule. This position provides leadership across production, upholstery, cutting, sewing, assembly, maintenance, and facility operations. The manager is responsible for meeting production schedules, maintaining quality standards, controlling labor and operating costs, improving processes, and ensuring the facility is prepared to support current and future business growth.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on leader who understands manufacturing, upholstery processes, employee development, preventive maintenance, safety, and continuous improvement.

This job description is intended to describe the essential functions of this position and is not intended to be an all-inclusive statement of job responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities:

Production Management

• Lead daily production activities to ensure customer orders are completed on time and meet quality standards.
• Manage production schedules, staffing levels, overtime, and workflow to meet company goals.
• Monitor production capacity and identify bottlenecks before they impact customer delivery dates.
• Coordinate with Planning, Sales, Project Management, Warehouse, Purchasing, and Customer Experience teams.
• Ensure materials, components, fabric, foam, frames, hardware, and other parts are available when needed for production.
• Establish priorities when production capacity or materials are limited.
• Monitor daily and weekly production performance against established goals.
• Identify opportunities to increase throughput, reduce downtime, and improve labor efficiency.
• Support outsourcing decisions when internal capacity is exceeded.
• Ensure production areas are properly organized and employees have the tools and resources needed to perform their jobs.

Upholstery Manufacturing

• Maintain a strong understanding of upholstery manufacturing processes, including:
• Fabric receiving and inspection
• Pattern making and pattern matching and repeat matching
• CNC cutting & Fabric cutting
• Sewing
• Foam & Frame preparation
• Upholstery
• Assembly
• Finishing
• Quality inspection
• Packaging
• Ensure standard work instructions and processes are followed.
• Identify opportunities to improve manufacturing methods and reduce rework.
• Work with Engineering, Product Development, and Quality teams to resolve manufacturing issues.
• Ensure new products are properly prepared for production before launch.
• Support the development and training of employees in specialized manufacturing skills.

Quality

• Establish and maintain high-quality standards throughout the manufacturing process.
• Monitor defects, rework, scrap, and customer complaints.
• Identify the root cause of quality problems and implement corrective actions.
• Hold production teams accountable for quality at each stage of the manufacturing process.
• Develop processes that prevent defects rather than relying solely on final inspection.
• Partner with Quality, Product Development, and Customer Experience teams to resolve recurring issues.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop production and facilities employees.
• Establish clear expectations for supervisors, leads, and team members.
• Hold employees accountable for safety, quality, productivity, attendance, and performance.
• Develop supervisors and leads to become stronger leaders.
• Cross-train employees to improve flexibility and production capacity.
• Identify skill gaps and establish training plans.
• Build a culture of teamwork, accountability, communication, and continuous improvement.
• Recognize strong performance and address performance issues promptly and fairly.

Facilities, Safety & Maintenance Management

• Oversee the maintenance, repair, and operation of the company's building, grounds, and manufacturing facility.
• Develop and manage preventive maintenance programs for production equipment and facility systems.
• Coordinate maintenance projects with internal staff and outside contractors.
• Champion a culture of workplace safety throughout the organization.
• Ensure production equipment, utilities, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and other facility systems remain safe and operational.
• Maintain an organized, clean, and professional manufacturing environment.

Required skills and experience:

• 5+ years of manufacturing or production management experience.
• 3-5 years of experience managing production employees and supervisors.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and workflow.
• Experience with equipment maintenance and facility operations.
• Strong problem-solving and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Strong communication and leadership skills.
• Ability to work hands-on with production teams and facility personnel.
• Experience in upholstery, furniture, textile, sewing, or related manufacturing.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing or continuous improvement.
• Experience with preventive maintenance programs.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems.

Key Competencies:

• Manufacturing Leadership
• Production Planning & Scheduling
• Team Leadership & Development
• Continuous Improvement
• Lean Manufacturing
• Facilities Management
• Operational Excellence
• Decision Making & Problem Solving

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to lift 20 pounds at times.
• Must be able to stand, bend down, and squat throughout the day as necessary.
• Ability to work in a manufacturing environment with exposure to machinery, noise, dust, and varying temperatures.

Qualities we love!

• Can do, innovative attitude
• Solution-oriented with demonstrated ability to problem solve
• Positive attitude and strong sense of humor to help foster a fun and creative work environment
• Creative and passionate about design, inside and outside the industry
• Strong interpersonal communication skills and ability to collaborate with diverse personalities.