Senior Manager, Manufacturing Operations 1st Shift

Senior Manager, Manufacturing Operations – 1st Shift

Location:

USA, Decatur, AL

Senior Manager, Manufacturing Operations leads a manufacturing area with responsibility for safety, quality, delivery, cost, and culture on the first shift. The role drives daily execution and long-term improvement through strong leadership, disciplined operational routines, and adherence to Lean principles.

• Oversee end-to-end operations for a manufacturing area, ensuring strong performance in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and culture.
• Develop the annual operational plan and align area metrics with overall plant objectives.
• Allocate resources to meet targets.
• Lead and support salaried and hourly production employees within a manufacturing area.
• Use production line boards to track performance, identify issues, and drive problem resolution across shifts.
• Maintain a solid understanding of plant operations and follow escalation processes to resolve abnormalities and implement corrective actions.
• Drive adherence to Lean manufacturing practices, standardized work and the site escalation process.
• Track department metrics, manage budgets and deliver daily report-outs during production meetings.
• Establish a consistent operating rhythm, including daily meetings with Area Business Leader and Team Leaders.
• Ensure standardized work is implemented, followed, and regularly reviewed for stability and compliance.
• Coach Area Business Leaders, Process Improvement Engineers, and Team Leaders on standardized work, job instruction methods, and effective training practices.
• Maintain 5S standards across the entire manufacturing area.

• Champion the Appliance Production System and embed continuous improvement into daily operations.
• Lead teams to aggressively identify factory inefficiencies, conduct root cause analysis, and implement sustainable solutions.
• Engage cross‑functional escalation teams, including Lean resources, to address and resolve issues quickly and effectively.
• Identify and eliminate waste through both short‑term countermeasures and long‑term improvement initiatives.
• Serve as a second‑level responder in the escalation process for operational issues.
• Lead regular reviews of open issues, assign ownership, track actions to closure, and communicate updates to stakeholders.
• Drive kaizen events and ensure resulting countermeasures are implemented and sustained.
• Oversee work area rebalancing through tools such as Yamazumi charts.

• Provide hands‑on leadership for an integrated, cross‑functional manufacturing team.
• Set clear goals for team members and support performance through coaching, feedback, and development opportunities.
• Participate in performance reviews and partner with HR on talent development and succession planning.
• Manage employee relations issues, including investigations and disciplinary actions, in partnership with HR, ensuring proper documentation and consistency.
• Recruit and allocate resources to meet operational needs.
• Develop and mentor emerging leaders within the organization.
• Ensure fair and consistent application of policies, work rules, and workplace processes.

• Ensure all products within the manufacturing area meet specifications and are produced defect‑free.
• Enforce compliance with the Manufacturing Control Plan and all quality standards.
• Monitor daily quality data and escalated or resolve defects promptly.
• Ensure standardized work incorporates quality requirements to meet design intent and build in quality at the source.
• Collaborate with engineering, quality, and production teams to resolve line issues and prevent repeat defects.
• Review scrap data and lead efforts to reduce scrap and prevent recurrence.
• Partner with Plant Quality and engineering teams to improve key quality metrics such as First Pass Yield, Overall Yield, and Service Call Rate.

• Own overall safety performance and metrics for the manufacturing area.
• Foster a strong safety culture through behavior‑based observations, audits, safety meetings, and adherence to 5S practices.
• Enforce compliance with all safety rules and procedures while ensuring timely completion of accident…