Team Manager

Ford; Wayne (MI); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and prescription drug

Vehicle discount program for employees

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Job summary

Ford Motor Company in Michigan is seeking a Manufacturing Team Manager to lead daily operations across safety, quality, responsiveness, people, and cost. You will provide servant leadership to a cross-functional team and drive continuous improvement with data-based decision making in a high-volume, complex plant environment.

You will develop future leaders, coach teams, uphold standardized work, manage resources, and collaborate with production, quality, engineering, and maintenance to meet

Qualifications

• 4+ years of progressive responsibilities and experience in operations leadership.
• Extensive experience in high-volume, complex manufacturing environments.
• Experience leading a manufacturing function and overseeing 50+ hourly employees.
• Strong leadership with interpersonal, team-building and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to resolve problems under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Champion a zero-injury culture by ensuring safety standards are met.
• Lead efforts to achieve quality objectives, reduce defects, and improve customer satisfaction.
• Drive operational responsiveness and minimize production disruptions.
• Manage labor, material, and resources to achieve cost targets.
• Build and coach high-performing teams through servant leadership and accountability.
• Foster employee engagement and a culture of respect and inclusion.
• Lead daily business management processes and follow up on actions.
• Identify waste, improve processes, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills

Servant leadership

Problem solving

Cross-functional

Data-driven decisions

Team coaching

Communication

Continuous improvement

Strategic leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Lean Six Sigma

Job description

As part of our Manufacturing team, you’ll help build the world-class, state-of-the-art smart vehicles we're known for. In our plants around the world, we’re constantly developing new technologies and processes to further increase our efficiency. You'll get the satisfaction of making great products people use and love.

The Manufacturing Team Manager is responsible for leading daily operations to achieve world-class performance in Safety, Quality, Responsiveness, People, and Cost (SQRPC) objectives. This role provides servant leadership to a cross-functional team, fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and employee engagement while ensuring manufacturing targets are met.

In this role…

You’ll leverage your exceptional problem-solving skills to effectively identify root causes, implement sustainable corrective actions, and drive operational excellence through data-based decision-making. You’ll collaborate closely with production, quality, engineering, maintenance, and support functions to deliver results while maintaining a safe and inclusive work environment.

What you’ll do…

• Champion a zero-injury culture by ensuring compliance with all safety standards, policies, and procedures.
• Lead efforts to achieve quality objectives, reduce defects, and improve customer satisfaction through robust problem-solving and continuous improvement activities.
• Drive operational responsiveness by quickly addressing production issues, escalating concerns when necessary, and minimizing disruptions to manufacturing operations.
• Manage labor, material, and operational resources to achieve cost and productivity targets.
• Build, develop, and coach high-performing teams through servant leadership, effective communication, recognition, and accountability.
• Foster employee engagement and promote a culture of respect, teamwork, and inclusiveness.
• Lead daily business management processes, including SQDCP reviews, performance discussions, and action plan follow-up.
• Utilize structured problem-solving methodologies to identify root causes and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Ensure adherence to standardized work, control plans, layered audits, and operational procedures.
• Partner with stakeholders across the organization to drive continuous improvement initiatives and achieve business objectives.
• Develop future leaders by providing coaching, mentoring, and growth opportunities for team members.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement by identifying waste, improving processes, and implementing best practices.
• Drive Continuous Improvement by eliminating internal roadblocks and providing the necessary resources to their teams to support problem resolution resulting in cost/quality improvement
• Collaborate with subject matter experts across functions/departments to drive innovation and deliver timely solutions

Success Measures

• Achievement of safety goals and reduction of workplace incidents.
• Improvement in quality metrics, customer satisfaction, and defect reduction.
• Consistent achievement of production and responsiveness targets.
• Increased employee engagement, retention, and team capability.
• Delivery of cost, productivity, and continuous improvement objectives.

You’ll have...

Education: Bachelor’s degree

Experience:

• 4+ years of progressive responsibilities and experience in operations leadership
• Extensive experience in high-volume, complex, manufacturing environments
• Experience successfully leading a manufacturing function and directly overseeing 50+ hourly employees at once
• Demonstrated track record of building trust and rapport with employees and stakeholders and creating positive and healthy cultures.
• Excellent leadership skills with demonstrated ability to resolve diverse problems
• Strong problem solver who can lead effectively under pressure and crisis manage when necessary
• Aspiration for continued career growth and new challenges.
• Successful candidate must be able to demonstrate leadership with outstanding interpersonal, team building, and communication skills

Even better, you may have...

Education: Bachelor’s degree in an engineering or technical field

Experience:

• Operational experience leading automotive manufacturing processes across multiple areas (body, paint, final assembly, etc.)
• Lean / Six Sigma certification or demonstrated equivalent experience applying lean manufacturing principles and standardized work.
• Demonstrated experience in final assembly
• Experience working in a fast-paced unionized manufacturing environment

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care, parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up childcare and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members, and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is a leadership salary grade 6.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.