Manufacturing Manager Cellpack Production

Essential Functions/Duties and Responsibilities

• Own daily production execution for electrode value streams (cell stack subassembly, sheet metal fabrication)
• Drive output to schedule commitments tied to stack assembly and customer delivery milestones
• Manage throughput, OEE, and process yields; identify and eliminate bottlenecks using VSM and lean methods
• Maintain production floor discipline: 5S, standard work, visual management, and tier accountability meetings (lead tier 2, report in tier 3)
• People Leadership: Directly manage production supervisors, junior managers, and indirectly lead operators, technicians, and support personnel across a 24/7 operation
• Develop team capability through structured cross-training; define and maintain skills matrices across the team
• Lead hiring, performance management, and career development for the electrodes group
• Ensure adequate staffing across all shifts, minimize overtime & unplanned OPEX
• Quality & Process Control: Partner with quality engineering to maintain control plans, in-process inspection criteria, and monitoring systems for critical parameters with strong emphasis on dimensional tolerances
• Own non-conformance investigations and drive reduction in cost of poor quality (COPQ)
• Work with engineering and technology development to drive process risk assessments; own corrective and preventive action (CAPA) closure
• Engineering Collaboration: Serve as the manufacturing voice in new product introduction (NPI); conduct manufacturing assessments to support NPI and product change reviews affecting electrode department production
• Coordinate with R&D on process development trials and scale-up activities on the production floor
• Support equipment procurement, specification, and commissioning
• EHS & Compliance: Ensure safe handling of metallic components and cell subassemblies in accordance with OSHA and site EHS standards
• Enforce PPE compliance and maintain a zero-incident safety culture
• Metrics & Reporting: Own key performance indicators: throughput rate, first-pass yield, scrap rate, cost per cell, equipment uptime
• Report performance weekly to senior leadership; drive accountability to targets

Qualifications and Experience

• B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline
• 7+ years of manufacturing or process engineering experience, including 3+ years in a supervisory or managerial role
• Experience with sheet metal fabrication methods
• Proficiency with lean manufacturing tools (VSM, Kaizen, 5S, PDCA)
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, process specifications, and control plans
• PREFERRED: M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or Mechanical Engineering
• Experience with fuel cell component manufacturing (MCFC, PEM, PAFC, or SOFC)
• Experience with PLM/ERP/MES systems and SPC software
• PREFERRED: Prior experience successfully leading operations teams in a manufacturing environment that is transitioning from low to high volume production
• Experience manufacturing components with tight dimensional and chemical tolerances