Production Manager, Steel Wire Manufacturing

The Peterson School; Northbridge (MA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Profit sharing

401(k)

Health insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Short‑term disability insurance

Long‑term disability insurance

Paid time off

Employee assistance program

Employee referral program

Job summary

Riverdale Mills Corporation in Northbridge, Massachusetts, seeks an experienced, hands-on Production Manager to lead our steel wire manufacturing operations on the factory floor. This role is part of our succession plan to develop senior production leadership within two years.

You will supervise supervisors and hourly staff, coordinate materials, equipment, and schedules, and drive safety, quality, and productivity improvements while mentoring teams toward operational excellence.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years of meaningful manufacturing experience.
• Several years of supervisory or management responsibility in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience managing hourly manufacturing staff.
• Strong mechanical and technical aptitude.
• Practical understanding of industrial machinery and processes.
• Knowledge of motors, pumps, hydraulics, compressors, chillers, piping, and electrical systems.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to set priorities and manage multiple issues.

Responsibilities

• Direct and manage the day‑to‑day operations of assigned manufacturing departments.
• Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, line leaders, and production employees.
• Organize labor, equipment, materials, and production schedules to meet operating and customer requirements.
• Meet production, quality, safety, cost, and delivery objectives.
• Monitor productivity, downtime, scrap, quality, labor utilization, and manufacturing performance.
• Identify production problems and take responsibility for resolving them.
• Work closely with maintenance, engineering, quality, purchasing, shipping, and senior management.
• Improve workflow, productivity, equipment utilization, housekeeping, and operating discipline.
• Build and maintain a strong safety culture.
• Coach supervisors in leadership, communication, accountability, and employee development.
• Establish and maintain effective employee training programs.
• Support Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and waste‑reduction initiatives.
• Participate in equipment improvements, installations, modernization projects, and capital planning.
• Support budgeting, labor planning, cost control, and operating performance.
• Use production data and performance metrics to identify problems and opportunities for improvement.
• Maintain high standards for product quality and customer satisfaction.
• Develop the technical knowledge and management capability necessary to assume substantially greater production responsibility over time.

Skills

Manufacturing leadership

Supervisory experience

Mechanical aptitude

Industrial machinery knowledge

Problem solving

Communication skills

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

Job description

Production Manager, Steel Wire Manufacturing

Riverdale Mills Corporation is seeking an experienced, hands‑on Production Manager to join our manufacturing leadership team in Northbridge, Massachusetts.

This is more than another production management position.

We are looking for a strong manufacturing leader with the technical ability, work ethic, people skills, judgment, and ambition to develop into a senior production leadership position within approximately two years.

The successful candidate will work closely with one of Riverdale Mills' most experienced senior production managers and learn the equipment, processes, people, operating systems, and management practices required to run a complex steel wire manufacturing operation.

This position is part of our long‑term succession plan for manufacturing leadership.

For the right person, this is an opportunity to assume progressively greater responsibility and ultimately become one of the key leaders responsible for running our manufacturing facility.

This Is a Hands‑On Manufacturing Position

This is not a desk‑management job.

Our production managers spend significant time on the factory floor working directly with supervisors, machine operators, maintenance personnel, engineering, quality, and senior management.

When a production problem occurs, we expect our managers to go to the floor, understand the problem, organize the appropriate people and resources, and take responsibility for getting it resolved.

The successful candidate must be mechanically and technically inclined, comfortable around industrial machinery, and genuinely interested in understanding how equipment, manufacturing processes, and people work together.

Responsibilities

• Direct and manage the day‑to‑day operations of assigned manufacturing departments.
• Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, line leaders, and production employees.
• Organize labor, equipment, materials, and production schedules to meet operating and customer requirements.
• Meet production, quality, safety, cost, and delivery objectives.
• Monitor productivity, downtime, scrap, quality, labor utilization, and manufacturing performance.
• Identify production problems and take responsibility for resolving them.
• Work closely with maintenance, engineering, quality, purchasing, shipping, and senior management.
• Improve workflow, productivity, equipment utilization, housekeeping, and operating discipline.
• Build and maintain a strong safety culture.
• Coach supervisors in leadership, communication, accountability, and employee development.
• Establish and maintain effective employee training programs.
• Support Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and waste‑reduction initiatives.
• Participate in equipment improvements, installations, modernization projects, and capital planning.
• Support budgeting, labor planning, cost control, and operating performance.
• Use production data and performance metrics to identify problems and opportunities for improvement.
• Maintain high standards for product quality and customer satisfaction.
• Develop the technical knowledge and management capability necessary to assume substantially greater production responsibility over time.

Requirements

We are looking for candidates with:

• Approximately 8 to 10 years or more of meaningful manufacturing experience.
• Several years of supervisory or management responsibility in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience managing hourly manufacturing employees.
• Strong mechanical and technical aptitude.
• A practical understanding of industrial machinery and manufacturing processes.
• Familiarity with equipment and systems such as motors, pumps, hydraulics, compressors, chillers, piping, and industrial electrical systems.
• Strong organizational and problem‑solving skills.
• The ability to establish priorities and manage multiple issues simultaneously.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• The ability to communicate effectively with operators, mechanics, engineers, supervisors, managers, and senior executives.
• A demonstrated ability to coach, teach, and develop employees.
• A strong work ethic and personal commitment to results.
• The ability to make decisions, establish accountability, and follow through.
• A willingness to spend significant time on the manufacturing floor.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in any of the following environments is particularly valuable:
• Steel or metals manufacturing.
• Wire drawing or wire products.
• Welding and welded products.
• Galvanizing or coating.
• Metal fabrication.
• Automotive manufacturing.
• Plastics, paper, converting, or other continuous‑process manufacturing.
• Lean manufacturing or Six Sigma.
• Capital equipment and manufacturing process improvement.
• Experience specifically with steel wire manufacturing is desirable but not required.

A bachelor's degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business, or a related discipline is preferred, but not required.

Practical manufacturing experience, technical ability, leadership capability, judgment, work ethic, and demonstrated results are more important to us than credentials alone.

Equivalent combinations of education and significant manufacturing experience will be considered.

What We Value

We are looking for someone who:

• Wants to understand how the entire manufacturing operation works.
• Goes to the production floor when there is a problem.
• Can organize people and establish priorities in a demanding environment.
• Makes commitments and follows through.
• Holds people accountable while treating employees with respect.
• Is comfortable having difficult conversations when standards are not being met.
• Enjoys teaching and developing employees.
• Takes pride in improving an operation.
• Wants greater responsibility and a long‑term career in manufacturing leadership.

Riverdale Mills has senior manufacturing leaders with decades of practical operating experience.

We are actively developing the next generation of production leadership and are prepared to invest substantial time in the right individual.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to learn directly from experienced senior production management, develop a detailed understanding of our manufacturing operation, assume progressively greater responsibility, and position themselves to become one of the key leaders responsible for operating our facility.

We are looking for someone who wants more than another management job.

If you are technically capable, hardworking, comfortable leading people, willing to work on the factory floor, interested in developing employees, and motivated by the opportunity to eventually help run a significant manufacturing operation, we would like to hear from you.

Riverdale Mills offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Profit sharing.
• 401(k).
• Health insurance.
• Vision insurance.
• Life insurance.
• Short‑term disability insurance.
• Long‑term disability insurance.
• Paid time off.
• Employee assistance program.
• Employee referral program.

About Riverdale Mills

Riverdale Mills Corporation is one of the world's leading manufacturers of galvanized and PVC-coated welded wire mesh. Based in Northbridge, Massachusetts, Riverdale Mills designs and manufactures commercial and industrial wire products serving the marine, aquaculture, security, construction, agricultural, and other industries. Our products are manufactured at our vertically integrated United States manufacturing facility and sold throughout the United States and internationally. Riverdale Mills has built its reputation on manufacturing expertise, quality, innovation, and solving difficult manufacturing and customer problems.

Candidates must be able to commute to Northbridge, Massachusetts. Riverdale Mills does not currently offer a relocation package for this position.

Riverdale Mills Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Salary Description