A growing manufacturing organization is seeking a Senior Production Manager to lead production, warehouse, inventory, and operational execution within a fast-paced environment. This newly created leadership position offers the opportunity to drive operational performance, implement Lean initiatives, develop teams, and help scale operations to support significant future growth.
This role combines hands-on leadership with strategic operational management and will play a key role in improving productivity, quality, delivery performance, safety, and overall operational excellence.
Position Overview
The Senior Production Manager will oversee end-to-end production and warehouse operations with accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and workforce development. This leader will establish scalable processes, drive continuous improvement initiatives, and build operational systems that support growth and increased capacity.
Key Responsibilities
Operations Leadership
- Lead production, material flow, inventory management, warehouse operations, and supporting facility activities.
- Manage supervisors and frontline employees in a manufacturing environment.
- Develop operating controls, production schedules, labor plans, dashboards, and reporting routines.
- Drive accountability through coaching, employee development, performance management, and structured operating reviews.
- Partner with Engineering, Quality, Materials, and Supply Chain teams to improve operational performance.
- Support new product introductions, production readiness activities, and process validation efforts.
Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement
- Lead Lean manufacturing initiatives including 5S, Kanban, standard work, line balancing, waste reduction, and material flow optimization.
- Conduct time studies, labor analysis, cycle time assessments, and capacity planning activities.
- Utilize structured problem-solving methodologies such as DMAIC, A3, 8D, Fishbone, and Root Cause Analysis.
- Identify bottlenecks and process constraints while implementing sustainable corrective actions.
- Improve workflow, facility layout, material movement, ergonomics, and operational scalability.
- Drive measurable improvements in throughput, labor efficiency, quality, cost, and delivery performance.
- Lead and develop supervisors and production personnel through coaching and mentorship.
- Foster a culture centered on safety, accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
- Utilize KPI-driven management practices to improve team performance and decision-making.
- Lead teams through operational, organizational, and process changes.
- Maintain a visible leadership presence on the production floor while balancing analytical and strategic responsibilities.
Strategic Operations Management
- Support capacity expansion, facility growth, production scaling, and operational improvement initiatives.
- Partner with cross-functional teams to improve customer outcomes and operational performance.
- Optimize inventory utilization, material flow, labor deployment, and resource allocation.
- Develop systems and processes capable of supporting long-term business growth.
Key Performance Areas
Success in this role will be measured through:
- Production Output & Productivity
- On-Time Delivery Performance
- Safety & Compliance
- First Pass Yield & Quality Performance
- Throughput & Capacity Utilization
- Inventory Management
- Material Flow Efficiency
- Cost Reduction Initiatives
- Workforce Development
- Operational Scalability
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of progressive leadership experience within manufacturing, production, warehouse operations, industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, continuous improvement, or related environments.
- Experience leading production teams and supervisors within a manufacturing setting.
- Demonstrated success driving Lean manufacturing initiatives and measurable operational improvements.
- Experience managing KPIs, performance metrics, and continuous improvement programs.
- Strong understanding of capacity planning, production flow, labor planning, bottleneck reduction, and throughput optimization.
- Experience utilizing ERP/MRP systems and operational reporting tools.
- Advanced Excel and data analysis capabilities.
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, or a related field preferred.
- Equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
Preferred Qualifications
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or higher.
- Experience supporting production scale-ups, facility expansions, line launches, or growth initiatives.
- Background in industrial manufacturing, consumer products, electronics, medical devices, aerospace, industrial equipment, distribution, or related industries.
- Experience leading continuous improvement projects with measurable business impact.
Leadership Profile
The ideal candidate will be:
- A hands-on manufacturing leader with strong floor-level credibility.
- Analytical and data-driven with excellent problem-solving skills.
- Skilled at building accountability and developing high-performing teams.
- Comfortable leading change and challenging existing processes.
- Collaborative, adaptable, and focused on continuous improvement.
- Capable of balancing strategic thinking with daily operational execution.