Production Manager

MAHLE Thermal and Filter Systems US; Murfreesboro (TN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

MAHLE Thermal and Filter Systems US is seeking a Production Manager to lead safety, production, and quality across assigned manufacturing areas in Murfreesboro, TN. You will oversee supervisors and hourly teams, drive continuous improvement, and ensure customer requirements for delivery, cost, and quality are met.

The role emphasizes leadership of supervisors, adherence to IATF 16949, and effective labor and capacity planning in a high-volume automotive environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, or related discipline preferred.
• Approximately 5–10 years of progressive manufacturing experience, depending on plant size and responsibility.
• Experience in automotive manufacturing is strongly preferred.
• Prior leadership experience managing supervisors and hourly employees.
• Experience operating in a high-volume, fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a safety-first culture across all shifts and ensure compliance with OSHA/EHS policies.
• Achieve daily, weekly, and monthly production schedules and monitor delivery against customer requirements.
• Manage manpower, machine capacity, overtime, and shift coverage; respond to interruptions and bottlenecks.
• Drive compliance with IATF 16949, APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, and standardized work; partner with Quality for defects.
• Lead continuous improvement using Lean manufacturing principles; identify recurring problems and eliminate root causes.

Skills

Leadership

Lean manufacturing

Problem solving

Quality management

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Manufacturing/Operations Management/Business

Tools

ERP/MRP systems

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Your Contribution

The Production Manager is responsible for the safe, efficient, and profitable operation of assigned manufacturing areas, ensuring customer requirements for quality, delivery, cost, and volume are consistently achieved. The position leads supervisors and production teams while driving continuous improvement, standardized work, labor efficiency, scrap reduction, equipment uptime, and compliance with automotive quality systems. This role is responsible to:

Safety

• Maintain a safety-first culture across all shifts.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA, company EHS policies, PPE requirements, LOTO, ergonomics, and safe work practices.
• Review incidents, near misses, and unsafe conditions.
• Lead corrective actions and verify closure.
• Conduct regular floor safety audits.
• Hold supervisors accountable for daily safety expectations.

Production & Delivery

• Achieve daily, weekly, and monthly production schedules.
• Monitor production against customer requirements and shipping schedules.
• Manage manpower, machine capacity, overtime, and shift coverage.
• Respond quickly to production interruptions and bottlenecks.
• Coordinate recovery plans when production falls behind.
• Manage schedule attainment and on-time delivery.
• Maintain appropriate escalation processes for significant production concerns.

Quality

• Ensure production meets customer specifications and automotive quality requirements.
• Support IATF 16949 and applicable customer-specific requirements.
• Drive compliance with:Control PlansStandardized WorkPFMEAsWork InstructionsProcess parametersTraceability requirementsPartner with Quality to address internal defects and customer complaints.
• Ensure containment and corrective actions are implemented when quality issues occur.
• Drive reductions in scrap, rework, defects, and customer PPM.

People Leadership

• Typically responsible for Production Supervisors, Team Leaders, and hourly production employees.
• Coach and develop supervisors.
• Establish clear performance expectations.
• Hold leaders accountable for results.
• Address attendance, performance, and conduct issues consistently.
• Develop succession plans and future leaders.
• Ensure adequate staffing and employee training.
• Promote employee engagement and accountability.
• Conduct regular supervisor meetings and performance reviews.
• Partner with HR on disciplinary and employee-relations matters.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead improvements using Lean manufacturing principles such as:5S, Kaizen, Standardized Work, Visual Management, Problem Solving, Gemba, Waste elimination, Line balancing, SMED/changeover reduction, Root Cause Analysis, 5 Why, 8D, OEE improvement
• The Production Manager should not simply react to daily problems.
• A major expectation is toidentify recurring problems and permanently eliminate their root causes.

Your Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, or related discipline preferred.
• Approximately 5-10 years of progressive manufacturing experience, depending on plant size and responsibility.
• Previous automotive manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
• Prior leadership experience managing supervisors and hourly employees.
• Experience operating in a high-volume, fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Experience working with automotive OEM/customer requirements.
• Equivalent combinations of education and extensive manufacturing leadership experience may also be considered.

Technical Knowledge

Strong knowledge of:Automotive manufacturingLean manufacturingIATF 16949APQPPPAPPFMEAControl PlansSPC8DRoot-cause analysisStandardized workOEECapacity planningLabor planningERP/MRP systemsMicrosoft Excel and production reportingSpecific technical requirements can also includewelding, stamping, injection molding, assembly, machining, paint, casting, or other processes, depending on the operation.

Leadership Competencies

- The most important distinction between a supervisor and Production Manager is often the ability to lead through other leaders.

Our Offering

We will provide a collaborative environment working on exciting assignments, along with ongoing personal & career development opportunities.

#DiversityMatters with our inclusive culture, we welcome applications from all social, religious & ethnical backgrounds, disabilities both mental and physical, identities (gender) and neurodivergent people.

MAHLE is not currently hiring individuals for this position who now or in the future require sponsorship for employment-based non-immigrant and immigrant visas. However, as a global company, MAHLE offers many job opportunities outside of USA which can be found through our employment website www.jobs.mahle.com

Do you have any questions?
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