Workforce Development Manager

The Workforce Development Manager owns the design, execution, and long-term sustainment of a plant-wide training and competency system for both hourly and salaried employees in a ductile iron pipe manufacturing facility.

This role ensures employees are properly trained, verified as competent, and aligned with safety standards, standard work, product requirements (including AWWA and customer specifications), and corporate values
. The position carries direct accountability for training metrics, auditable records, trainer capability, and cross-functional alignment with Operations, Quality, and EHS to strengthen safety, quality, and operational discipline.

This is a full-time, on-site role (minimum 40 hours/week) with broad plant visibility and influence.

• Design and maintain job-based training matrices, qualification pathways, and competency verification systems across all departments, including production, maintenance, quality, engineering, and supervision.
• Define and document training requirements for high-risk and quality-critical work (e.g., molten metal handling, rotating equipment, cranes/forklifts, coatings and lining systems).
• Establish and track meaningful training metrics such as time-to-qualification, refresher cadence, cross-training progression, and demonstrated proficiency.
• Ensure all training content aligns with standard work, process controls, and applicable product specifications.

• Own the onboarding process for new hires, transfers, and promotions; verify readiness prior to independent work.
• Track training completion, certifications, and re-certifications; proactively elevate gaps to plant leadership.
• Maintain accurate, auditable training records to support OSHA compliance, customer and third‑party audits, insurance reviews, and internal assessments.

• Integrate safety requirements into all applicable training, including JSAs, lockout/tagout, confined space, PPE, and safe material handling.
• Partner with EHS, Operations, and Quality to evaluate training effectiveness using incident and near‑miss data, defect and rework trends, and process performance indicators.
• Coordinate targeted retraining and skills reinforcement based on risk exposure, process changes, or performance trends.

• Recruit, select, and onboard qualified hourly and salaried trainers; ensure adequate coverage across shifts.
• Establish clear Train-the-Trainer expectations, including technical accuracy, safety leadership, instructional effectiveness, and consistent documentation.
• Coach trainers and supervisors; implement feedback loops and simple measures to assess trainer effectiveness.

• Reinforce expected behaviors and company values through onboarding, job training, and leader development - how work is performed matters as much as output.
• Support supervisors in coaching, recognition, and corrective feedback to strengthen accountability and operational discipline.

• Identify skill gaps and workforce development needs; support succession planning and cross‑training initiatives.
• Build structured training plans for new equipment, process changes, specification updates, and new product introductions.

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, Engineering, Industrial Technology, Safety, or a related field;
  or equivalent manufacturing experience in a molten‑metal environment
  .
• Minimum 5 years of experience in ductile iron pipe manufacturing or similar heavy / metal manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated experience building job-based training systems, competency verification processes, and audit‑ready training records.
• Proven ability to influence across organizational levels, coach leaders, and drive consistent execution.

• Experience in a unionized manufacturing environment.
• Familiarity with LMS platforms or digital training tracking tools.
• Experience supporting AWWA or customer audits and formal quality management systems.

• Safety and quality leadership in industrial manufacturing environments
• Clear communication, coaching, and instructional capability
• Data‑driven training management and reporting
• Continuous improvement mindset with high integrity and accountability