Second-Shift Manufacturing Leader

Underground Printing; Ypsilanti, Northern (MI, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

401(k) match

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Employee discount

Job summary

Underground Printing is seeking an experienced Manufacturing Operations Manager to lead our second-shift production, including Screenprint, Embroidery, DTG, and Fulfillment. You will supervise supervisors, leads, and a team of 50–60 associates, aligning staffing with production schedules and customer commitments.

The role emphasizes balancing people leadership with operational execution, developing leaders, improving processes through Lean and 5S, and driving safety, quality, and on-time

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive manufacturing, production, warehouse, fulfillment, or operations leadership experience.
• Experience leading a sizable hourly workforce, preferably including supervisors or team leads.
• Experience managing multiple departments, production areas, or workstreams during a shift.
• Strong people-management skills, including coaching, accountability, performance management, and employee development.
• Demonstrated experience managing production schedules, staffing, productivity, quality, and deadlines.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen, continuous improvement, root-cause analysis, or similar operating practices.
• Strong organizational, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
• Comfort using production systems, spreadsheets, reporting tools, technology, and emerging tools to improve planning, communication, and operational efficiency.
• Ability to remain organized and make sound decisions when priorities change or production does not go according to plan.
• Experience in apparel decoration, screen printing, embroidery, heat press, printing, packaging, or custom manufacturing is helpful but not required.

Responsibilities

• Lead all second-shift manufacturing and production operations.
• Provide leadership and direction to supervisors, leads, and production team members across multiple departments.
• Ensure the shift starts with clear production priorities, staffing plans, and expectations.
• Monitor production performance throughout the shift and make real-time adjustments to labor, workflow, equipment, and priorities.
• Drive performance in productivity, labor efficiency, quality, safety, and on-time completion.
• Maintain an active presence throughout production operations to understand challenges, support leaders, and ensure priorities remain on track.
• Establish clear expectations and accountability related to performance, attendance, quality, safety, and workplace standards.
• Identify production bottlenecks and coordinate solutions to keep work moving.
• Coordinate with Fulfillment and Shipping to ensure time-sensitive customer orders and carrier commitments are completed.
• Lead effective shift handoffs so production priorities, equipment concerns, quality issues, and incomplete work are clearly communicated.
• Investigate recurring operational issues, identify root causes, and implement corrective actions.
• Develop and reinforce standard work, training, SOPs, 5S, and continuous improvement practices.
• Partner with Maintenance and Operations leadership to address equipment issues and improve reliability.
• Coach and develop supervisors and leads to strengthen leadership, communication, decision-making, and accountability.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, reduce waste, increase efficiency, and strengthen the overall employee and customer experience.

Skills

People leadership

Manufacturing

Shift management

Lean manufacturing

Kaizen

Production scheduling

Team coaching

Problem solving

Job description

Underground Printing is seeking an experienced Manufacturing Operations Manager to lead our second-shift production, including Screenprint, Embroidery, DTG, and Fulfillment. You will supervise supervisors, leads, and a team of 50–60 associates, aligning staffing with production schedules and customer commitments.

The role emphasizes balancing people leadership with operational execution, developing leaders, improving processes through Lean and 5S, and driving safety, quality, and on-time