Production Manager - Manufacturing Operations

Reports to:

Vice-President of Operations About Hermes Abrasives

Hermes Abrasives, a subsidiary of WALTER Surface Technologies, is a global manufacturer of high-performance coated abrasive solutions serving industrial customers worldwide. Our success is built on operational excellence, product quality, innovation, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

The Production Manager is responsible for leading day-to-day manufacturing operations at Hermes Abrasives, ensuring production activities are executed safely, efficiently, and in alignment with quality, delivery, cost, and workforce engagement expectations. This role owns production performance across daily execution, workforce planning, shop floor discipline, productivity, quality support, maintenance coordination, and operational budget control. The Production Manager translates site priorities into clear production plans, develops front-line leadership capability, drives practical continuous improvement initiatives, and ensures the operation meets current performance expectations.

As a key member of the site operations team, the Production Manager balances daily execution with short- and mid-term planning while delivering sustainable improvements in safety, productivity, cost control, quality, and workforce engagement.

• Develop and execute production plans aligned with site and business objectives.
• Provide direct leadership to production teams and collaborate closely with maintenance, engineering, quality, supply chain, and support functions.
• Establish production priorities, staffing plans, performance targets, and daily execution routines.
• Drive shop-floor improvements in safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost.
• Ensure production teams are aligned around operational priorities, standards, and performance expectations.

• Manage the production operating budget and support strong operational financial performance.
• Contribute to annual budgeting and forecasting processes for production labor, supplies, overtime, scrap, efficiency, and controllable operating expenses.
• Support margin improvement through productivity, cost reduction, waste reduction, and operational excellence initiatives.
• Monitor production spending against budget and implement corrective actions when performance or cost trends move off plan.
• Support inventory performance, labor efficiency, material usage, and asset utilization through disciplined production management.

• Build and develop a high-performing production leadership team.
• Establish accountability systems, standard work, and leadership routines across production teams.
• Partner with Human Resources on staffing, employee relations, training, succession planning, and production team capability development.
• Coach supervisors and team leads to strengthen decision-making, ownership, and problem-solving.
• Foster a production culture focused on safety, accountability, engagement, teamwork, and continuous improvement.

• Support capacity planning, workflow improvements, process stability initiatives, and operational change projects as required.
• Identify practical opportunities to improve production efficiency, process stability, quality, and competitiveness.
• Support new product introductions, production readiness, and business growth requirements.
• Assess production resource needs, workforce requirements, equipment availability, and process constraints to support reliable execution.

• Champion Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Establish robust KPI systems and performance management processes.
• Lead production-focused and cross-functional improvement initiatives.
• Ensure sustainable execution of corrective actions and operational standards.

• Ensure compliance with all safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead business continuity and operational risk management initiatives.
• Maintain strong governance around quality, safety, and operational controls.

• Production leader within Hermes…