Senior Manufacturing Manager - Plastics

Senior Manufacturing Manager – Plastics

Lakewood, CO
• Wage: $148,500 - $185,600/year (direct hire)

This role sets the strategic vision and drives systemic improvements in efficiency, quality, safety, cost, and employee engagement for a highly technical plastics manufacturing operation. The manager leads a multi-process, multi-shift operation that includes injection molding, medical tubing extrusion, and manual/benchtop assembly. Responsibilities entail ensuring operational excellence through performance management, deep engagement with process engineering, and ownership of key manufacturing financial drivers.

• Lead, coach, and develop a large multi‑shift organization of supervisors, leads, and operators across multiple manufacturing processes
• Build leadership capability within frontline supervision through mentoring, accountability systems, and talent development
• Ensure consistent execution across all shifts through structured communication, standard work, and escalation processes
• Align labor resources with supply plan and customer demand on a daily and monthly basis
• Lead daily, weekly, and monthly performance review meetings driven by KPI data
• Foster strong cross‑functional relationships with Engineering, Quality, Finance, Supply Chain, and CI teams
• Proactively communicate operational performance, risks, and improvement plans to plant leadership
• Lead performance across injection molding, extrusion, and assembly operations, ensuring alignment to production, quality, and cost targets
• Develop and execute strategies to reduce downtime, improve throughput, and optimize labor utilization
• Champion Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement initiatives across the operation
• Utilize data analysis to identify trends, losses, and improvement opportunities
• Partner with CI teams to implement sustainable process improvements and track results
• Develop annual production budgets and manage performance against key financial metrics
• Align production teams to plant financial goals with clear accountability at all levels
• Lead structured problem‑solving efforts using tools such as root cause analysis, DMAIC, and statistical methods
• Utilize SPC and process capability data to improve process control and drive project pipelines
• Ensure compliance with GMP, GDP, and applicable regulatory standards

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and experience;
  Master’s degree preferred
• Lean / Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or higher) strongly preferred
• Minimum 10+ years of manufacturing experience, with at least 5+ years in leadership roles
• Demonstrated leadership in plastics manufacturing environments, including injection molding (required or strongly preferred) and extrusion (highly preferred)
• Experience managing multi‑shift operations (24/5 or 24/7)
• Proven track record of improving OEE, labor efficiency, and scrap performance
• Experience working in regulated environments (medical device preferred)
• Cross‑functional experience (Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, or Finance) a plus
• Strong financial acumen, including understanding of manufacturing cost structures, absorption, and variances
• Deep understanding of OEE systems and loss analysis, labor efficiency and productivity models
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, multi‑process manufacturing operations
• Exceptional leadership, coaching, and organizational development skills
• Strong problem‑solving and continuous improvement capability
• Effective communication skills across all organizational levels
• Proficiency in manufacturing systems and data analysis tools; SAP experience preferred