Operations Manager ACHES

Key Responsibilities

Lead daily operations for the Air cooled Heat Exchangers (ACHES) shop: staffing, floor coverage, production scheduling and on-time delivery.

Achieve direct operating expense targets for the department and manage a profitable operation by minimizing manufacturing variances.

Maintain safe work practices and compliance with EHS and regulatory standards; lead safety huddles and near miss reviews and incident investigations.

Maintain standard work, work instructions, and visual management systems; ensure operators are properly trained.

Track and report KPIs (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, People) through tiered daily management (Tier 1–3).

Partner with Planning/Supply Chain to ensure material availability and communicate capacity constraints.

Lead root cause investigations for defects, delays, and downtime; drive corrective and preventive actions.

Develop and train supervisors and coordinators through increased responsibilities and career focused courses and stretch assignments.

Implement Lean tools such as 5S, Standard Work, Visual Management, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, Kanban, SMED, and Poka Yoke.

Lead waste elimination efforts across motion, waiting, overproduction, inventory, defects, transport, and over processing.

Facilitate Kaizen events and rapid improvement workshops with documentation of charter, baseline, and results.

Drive OEE improvement by partnering with Maintenance on preventive and predictive maintenance needs.

Use data to identify bottlenecks, establish takt time, optimize line balance, and improve flow.

Build continuous improvement capability across the team through training and coaching.

Partner with Quality to improve process capability (Cp/Cpk), reduce defect rates, and strengthen first pass yield.

Ensure adherence to customer specifications through layered process audits and mistake proofing.

Connect employee engagement and shop performance metrics to customer outcomes.

Recruit, onboard, and develop ACHES shop team members; maintain skill matrices and cross training plans.

Recognize and reward behaviors that support safety, quality, and operational excellence.

Provide performance coaching and corrective action when necessary; maintain a high accountability culture.

Required Qualifications

Experience: 5–8+ years in manufacturing operations; 3+ years leading a production area in fabrication/assembly environments.

Leverage Lean/CI Experience: Measurable success applying Lean tools and leading improvement events.

Technical Knowledge: Familiarity with fabrication/assembly processes such as sheet metal, welding, machining, and testing.

Leadership: Strong coaching, communication, conflict resolution, and change management skills.

Data & Systems: Proficient with Excel/Sheets and ERP/MES systems (JDE, SAP, Oracle, Epicor).

Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, or related field - or equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt Experience.

Implementing TPM and SMED.

Knowledge of ISO 9001, AS9100, or similar QMS.

Experience managing a cost center or production budget.