Tank Shop Production Manager

Mississippi Export Railcar Services

Job Title: Tank Shop Production Manager

Location: Moss Point, MS

Reports to: Vice President of Operations

We are seeking a Production Manager that will lead day to day operations for the tank railcar repair and qualification activities at Mississippi Export Railcar Services. This role is responsible for safety, quality (in partnership with the Quality Director), production planning, production efficiency and regulatory compliance. The Production Manager leads and manages the shift leaders, tank car repair technicians, blasters and painters in addition to collaborating with other departments to ensure smooth, effective operations.

This role is also responsible for collaborating with the business development team to ensure customer satisfaction and help grow the railcar repair business.

• Lead and develop a high-performing team
• Promote a culture of safety, teamwork, and continuous improvement
• Demonstrate the ability to drive performance through KPIs, effectively measuring success and ensuring continuous improvement across key metrics.
• Proactively anticipate and avoid problems, developing solutions to issues in a timely manner
• Ensure regulatory compliance with all FRA and AAR regulations

• Understand customers’ requirements and develop tailored solutions
• Communicate with car owners on schedule and status of repairs
• Seek feedback from customers and implement improvements

• Actively manage all aspects of production (current and future projects) to ensure timely and high-quality repairs to meet customer commitments.
• Ensure repair paperwork is complete and accurate.
• Manage inventory procurement, usage and costs.
• Maintain relationships with vendors; monitor and manage vendor performance and costs.
• Ensure shop is clean and organized.
• Identify and mitigate potential hazards.
• Create and manage shift schedules and staffing to maximize production.
• Identify areas for process improvement, increased production efficiency, and cost-saving initiatives.
• Partner with VP of Operations to develop and execute plans to achieve financial objectives.
• Analyze data and generate reports on key performance indicators (KPIs), including production efficiency, utilization, costs, challenge areas and quality issues.
• Partner with accounting department to ensure inventory management and railcar billing is completed in a timely manner.

• Develop and maintain forward-looking schedule of shop production and available production capacity.
• Collaborate and partner with business development team to grow and diversify the pipeline.

• Experience repairing tank railcars and performing tank qualifications.
• Minimum of 10 years of railcar repair experience with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Strong leadership and strategic thinking with proven decision-making ability in complex production environments.
• Leverage data to drive continuous process improvement.
• Desire to grow the railcar repair business and continually identify solutions for customers.
• Technical proficiency in Microsoft Excel to manage, analyze, and draw insights from data.
• Experience working in a safety-sensitive regulated industry and building productive relationships with regulators.

• Management experience of tank car qualification facilities.
• NDT certifications and experience.
• NACE certifications and/or exterior and interior lining experience.
• Experience implementing lean six-sigma best practices.
• Regulatory Knowledge:
  In-depth knowledge of AAR M-1002, M-1003 Specifications, and Title 49 CFR.

• Daily presence on the production floor to lead the team, provide coaching, ensure adherence to safety rules and repair procedures, and also require a daily office presence to perform various planning and coordination activities.
• Travel to develop and maintain customer relationships and engage in industry events.
• Must be willing to work flexible hours, including nights and weekends as required. Expectation to have regular presence and engagement with second shift team.

• Competitive salary based on experience.
• Comprehensive…