Production Manager

Location: Quapaw

About Umicore Powering the cars of today and tomorrow. Reducing harmful emissions. Giving unique properties to high-end applications. Giving new life to used metals. As a global advanced materials and recycling group, we develop, produce, and recycle materials for a better life.

About Electro Optic Materials Power in space. Vision tings thinner than human hair. Umicore is a world leader in material solutions for the space, optics and electronics sectors – enabling every day cutting-edge technologies. We guarantee our customers secure access to supply, plus recycling technologies that give materials a new lease of life. To produce materials with even higher performance, and provide recycling to new markets, we cannot stand still.

We need to find new ways to do things, discover new solutions and develop new processes. Which is where you come in.

We are seeking an experienced Production & Operations Manager to lead MET and HPC manufacturing operations at our Quapaw facility. This role is responsible for delivering safe, reliable, efficient, and cost-effective production while providing leadership in production planning, employee development, operational performance, quality, inventory management, continuous improvement, capital projects, and business planning.

The Production & Operations Manager will lead a multidisciplinary team supporting a 24-hour, 5-day manufacturing operation, including Production Supervisors, production operators, and technical resources focused on process improvement and quality. This position works closely with Maintenance, Engineering, EHS, Quality, Laboratory, Supply Chain, Finance, Procurement, Commercial, and site leadership to ensure business objectives are effectively translated into operational results.

Key Responsibilities Operations & People Leadership Lead daily manufacturing operations with accountability for safety, quality, production, cost, and reliability.

Establish production priorities and ensure execution through supervisors and operating teams.

Provide leadership, coaching, and development for supervisors, operators, and technical staff.

Ensure appropriate staffing, shift coverage, communication, and technical support for a 24/5 operation.

Foster employee engagement, accountability, cross-training, and succession planning.

Promote a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Production Planning & Performance Develop and execute short-, medium-, and long-term production plans aligned with customer demand and business forecasts.

Balance production requirements with equipment capacity, staffing, inventory, and material availability.

Identify and mitigate operational risks that may impact production or customer commitments.

Monitor and report performance metrics related to production, safety, quality, yield, inventory, reliability, and cost.

Ensure accurate SAP reporting, inventory management, and production reconciliation.

Leverage data and KPIs to improve performance and drive corrective actions.

Safety, Quality & Continuous Improvement Champion a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with all EHS and process safety requirements.

Lead participation in incident investigations, risk assessments, and corrective action activities.

Partner with Quality, Laboratory, Engineering, and Maintenance teams to resolve operational issues.

Drive improvements in productivity, throughput, quality, recovery, reliability, waste reduction, and cost performance.

Maintain effective operating procedures, work instructions, and training documentation.

Capital Projects & Expansion Identify and develop capital investment opportunities that improve safety, reliability, capacity, quality, and productivity.

Support projects from concept and justification through…