Strategic Tooling & Manufacturing Lead

Great Plains Ag; Kansas; On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Great Plains Manufacturing, a Kubota subsidiary, seeks a Die & Tooling Manager to lead advanced tooling and manufacturing operations across multiple product groups. You will drive strategic and operational initiatives, partnering with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Quality teams to improve capacity, efficiency, and safety.

The role requires a strong track record in tooling, prototypes, and low-volume manufacturing, with demonstrated leadership in executing complex projects and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or a related technical field preferred; equivalent experience may be considered.
• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience in tooling, manufacturing, engineering operations, prototype development, production support, or a related technical environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead strategic process implementation while managing daily operational execution across multiple product lines or business priorities.
• Experience with tooling, fixtures, material handling equipment, prototype builds, low-volume manufacturing, or special manufacturing operations.
• Strong understanding of engineering documentation, manufacturing processes, fabrication, machining, welding, assembly, and cross-functional project execution.
• 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 platforms 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.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Communication

Continuous improvement

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Manufacturing/Industrial/Ops

Tools

ERP/MRP

PLM

Windchill

IBM i

Microsoft 365

Job description

Great Plains Manufacturing, a Kubota subsidiary, seeks a Die & Tooling Manager to lead advanced tooling and manufacturing operations across multiple product groups. You will drive strategic and operational initiatives, partnering with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Quality teams to improve capacity, efficiency, and safety.

The role requires a strong track record in tooling, prototypes, and low-volume manufacturing, with demonstrated leadership in executing complex projects and