Manufacturing Manager, Cooking

Description

The Manufacturing Manager, Cooking is responsible for overseeing and managing operations of the cooking facility, ensuring efficient production, maintaining high-quality standards, and meeting production goals. This role involves strategic planning, process improvement, budget management, and team leadership to achieve operational excellence and support the company’s growth objectives.

The Manufacturing Manager, Cooking is responsible for overseeing and managing operations of the cooking facility, ensuring efficient production, maintaining high-quality standards, and meeting production goals. This role involves strategic planning, process improvement, budget management, and team leadership to achieve operational excellence and support the company’s growth objectives.

This is a hands-on plant leadership role in a discrete manufacturing environment that produces residential cooking appliances (ranges, ovens, cooktops, and related products). Core processes include sheet-metal fabrication, welding, finishing, sub-assembly, final assembly, and product test. The manager spends significant time on the production floor and is accountable for Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and People (SQDC) results.

• Develop and implement manufacturing strategies aligned with company goals.
• Plan production needs and capacity, including labor, equipment, and material requirements, based on the provided forecast.
• Build contingency plans for demand swings, material shortages, and equipment constraints.
• Support new-product introduction: process capability, work instructions, tooling, staffing, and production ramp.

• Oversee manufacturing from incoming material readiness through finished-product release, within the defined scope of the role.
• Own schedule attainment, line balance, changeovers, and throughput on a high-mix product portfolio.
• Ensure efficient, cost-effective production while protecting quality and safety standards.
• Escalate shortages, quality holds, and equipment issues quickly and drive recovery plans.

• Drive first-pass yield, scrap and rework reduction, and containment when defects occur.
• Partner with Quality on in-process inspection, end-of-line test, audit readiness, and customer or field issues.
• Support compliance with applicable product-safety and certification requirements for gas and electric cooking appliances.
• Lead or sponsor root-cause analysis and lasting corrective action (8D, 5-Why, or equivalent).

• Implement and sustain lean manufacturing and continuous-improvement practices (standard work, 5S, visual management, kaizen, SMED, poka-yoke).
• Use production data to find waste in labor, material, downtime, and flow, then close the gap.
• Evaluate and implement process technology and automation that improve safety, quality, or productivity, with a clear business case.
• Stay current with manufacturing methods relevant to appliance and metal-fabrication operations and adopt proven practices.

• Lead, mentor, and develop managers, supervisors, and production staff; build bench strength for key roles and skilled trades.
• Set clear expectations, run daily tier or stand-up meetings, and coach supervisors through Gemba rather than managing only from the office.
• Conduct performance evaluations; provide feedback, training, and accountability.
• Own staffing models, skills matrices, cross-training, attendance, and overtime discipline.
• Foster a respectful, collaborative plant culture where safety and quality are not traded for output.

• Develop and manage the manufacturing budget, including labor, materials, supplies, and…