Senior Tooling & Manufacturing Operations Leader

Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc.; Assaria (KS); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Great Plains Manufacturing, a Kubota company, is seeking a Die & Tooling Manager to provide strategic and operational leadership for Advanced Tooling and Manufacturing Operations in Assaria, KS. The role leads tooling, fixture design and fabrication, prototype shop support, and development of scalable operating systems to improve visibility, accountability, and resource utilization.

The position supports engineering and manufacturing needs across GP AG, Land Pride Implements, and CE product

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or related field.
• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience in tooling, manufacturing, engineering operations, or related technical environment.
• Experience with tooling, fixtures, material handling equipment, prototype builds, or low-volume manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of engineering documentation, manufacturing processes, fabrication, welding, and assembly.
• Experience with workflow management, project management, digital operations systems, metrics, dashboards, and continuous improvement.
• Knowledge of ERP/MRP, PLM, engineering change, and manufacturing transaction systems preferred; Windchill, IBM i, Microsoft 365 or similar is beneficial.
• Strong leadership, communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, organizational, analytical, and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, balance urgent requests with planned work, and lead teams through change.

Responsibilities

• Lead Advanced Tooling and Manufacturing Operations, including tooling, fixtures, prototypes, material handling equipment, and special manufacturing work.
• Manage daily department operations, project priorities, schedules, resources, budgets, and personnel.
• Develop department goals, operating standards, capacity plans, and continuous improvement priorities that support safety, quality, responsiveness, cost effectiveness, and scalability.
• Implement processes for low-volume, non-current, and emergency parts manufacturing, including work intake, prioritization, material control, communication, and escalation.
• Coordinate priorities across GP AG, Land Pride Implements, and CE product groups while maintaining visibility to capacity, tradeoffs, schedule impact, and business risk.
• Partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Purchasing, Materials, Quality, Service Parts, Validation, and Customer Support to resolve constraints and execute business-critical work.
• Establish workflow governance for intake, ownership, required information, status updates, time tracking, returned-work loops, escalation, and closure standards.
• Develop performance metrics, dashboards, and management reviews for workload, project aging, response time, capacity, quality, and execution performance.
• Lead, coach, and develop department personnel while planning staffing, training, and resource allocation for current demand and future growth.
• Communicate project status, resource constraints, priorities, and execution risks to engineering and business leadership.
• Follow all Great Plains and OSHA safety regulations and wear prescribed safety and protective equipment.
• Other duties may be assigned that require additional qualifications, physical demands, and/or work environment.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Decision making

Analytical skills

Presentation skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

Windchill

IBM i

Microsoft 365

ERP/MRP systems

PLM

Job description

Great Plains Manufacturing, a Kubota company, is seeking a Die & Tooling Manager to provide strategic and operational leadership for Advanced Tooling and Manufacturing Operations in Assaria, KS. The role leads tooling, fixture design and fabrication, prototype shop support, and development of scalable operating systems to improve visibility, accountability, and resource utilization.

The position supports engineering and manufacturing needs across GP AG, Land Pride Implements, and CE product