Manufacturing Department Manager

About the Role

Creare develops innovative high-technology products for a variety of customers and marketplaces. Our Manufacturing Department supports production on a wide range of projects, including turbomachines for power generation and spacecraft cryogenic refrigerators, miniature vacuum pumps used in space exploration platforms, power electronics for military applications, and orbital electronic assemblies. The Manufacturing Department Manager leads strategic process improvements, establishes enterprise best practices, and drives corporate operational initiatives across the organization. This role focuses on scaling manufacturing capabilities, standardizing operational frameworks, and modeling long-term resource requirements to align manufacturing strategy with corporate growth goals.

Responsibilities

• Manufacturing Best Practices & Process Standardization: Develop, document, and deploy standardized manufacturing workflows and operational guidelines across all production groups. Establish corporate benchmarks for manufacturing and project performance metrics. Conduct process capability assessments to identify inefficiencies, standardizing high-performing methodologies as organization-wide best practices.
• Corporate Initiatives & Program Management: Serve as the primary liaison and program manager for multi-departmental corporate projects, including ERP/MES rollouts, digital transformation, and smart manufacturing process technologies. Lead continuous improvement efforts across site leaders, engineering teams, and management to ensure seamless adoption of new corporate standards and systems. Train and mentor departmental leads, engineers, and operational staff in continuous improvement methodologies.
• Resource Planning & Strategic Capacity Modeling: Build predictive resource models analyzing long-term throughput capacity, equipment utilization, labor requirements, and facility footprints. Evaluate facility expansion proposals to support business scalability.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Quality Assurance, Design Engineering, and Purchasing Departments to ensure seamless transitions from product design to manufacturing execution. Present operational roadmap progress, risk assessments, and resource forecasts regularly to leadership.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or Operations Management (Master’s or MBA preferred).
• Experience: A minimum of 5 years (10+ years preferred) in manufacturing operations or industrial engineering, with demonstrated experience leading corporate-level operational excellence or process transformation. Preference for experience in an aerospace manufacturing environment operating under AS9100 quality assurance requirements utilizing advanced ERP & MES systems.
• Demonstrated ability to function collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team to complete challenging initiatives.

Skills

• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Strong interpersonal skills and supervisory experience.
• Effective speaking and listening skills.
• Ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong customer service skills.
• Ethical conduct with a high regard for confidential and export control information.
• Proficient with computers, Microsoft Excel, Project, and other Microsoft Office applications.
• Organized with attention to detail.

Pay

Annual salary range is $120,000 - $175,000, based on education and experience.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package, including a substantial annual staff bonus.
• Competitive 401(k) contributions and plan options.
• A range of medical plans.
• Potential for signing or startup bonuses.

U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents only.