Position Summary
We are seeking a hands-on Manufacturing Operations Manager to oversee purchasing, inventory, production scheduling, ERP job travelers, shipping and receiving, and daily shop-floor operations. Approximately 90% of this position will focus on manufacturing the company’s core product line and maintaining adequate finished-goods inventory ready for shipment. The remaining 10% will support vehicle builds by ensuring materials are available and staged and by monitoring vehicles through completion.
The ideal candidate is a process-driven leader who can maintain accurate inventory, keep production on schedule, resolve bottlenecks, and establish clear operating procedures.
Key Responsibilities
- Product-Line Manufacturing and Scheduling — Approximately 90%
- Manage daily manufacturing activities and workflow for the company’s product line.
- Maintain production schedules based on sales demand, inventory levels, material availability, lead times, labor, and shop capacity.
- Ensure parts and completed products are manufactured in appropriate quantities, entered into inventory, and stocked for shipment.
- Coordinate labor, materials, equipment, and priorities to keep production on schedule.
- Monitor work in progress and resolve material shortages, quality concerns, delays, and workflow bottlenecks.
- Identify capacity constraints and recommend staffing, equipment, outsourcing, or process improvements.
- Communicate production status, schedule changes, shortages, and expected completion dates to leadership and employees.
- Maintain an organized, safe, efficient, and accountable shop-floor environment.
ERP and Job Travelers
- Create, release, review, and manage work orders and job travelers through the ERP system.
- Maintain accurate bills of materials, routings, quantities, labor entries, material issues, and production records.
- Ensure employees complete required job travelers and ERP transactions.
- Track raw materials, work in process, completed production, and finished goods.
- Investigate and correct inventory, work-order, and production-reporting discrepancies.
- Train employees on proper ERP procedures and consistent system use.
Purchasing and Material Planning
- Oversee purchasing to ensure materials, components, and supplies are available when required.
- Review demand, inventory, supplier lead times, open purchase orders, and production schedules to determine purchasing priorities.
- Coordinate with vendors regarding pricing, availability, quality, lead times, and delivery performance.
- Identify and address material shortages before they interrupt production.
- Establish purchasing controls, reorder points, safety-stock levels, and vendor-performance expectations.
- Balance material availability with inventory investment and storage capacity.
Inventory Operations
- Maintain accurate records for raw materials, purchased components, work in process, finished goods, and shop supplies.
- Establish and review minimum and maximum inventory levels, reorder points, and production quantities.
- Oversee the receiving, inspection, labeling, storage, movement, issuance, and return of inventory.
- Implement cycle counts and physical-inventory procedures.
- Investigate inventory variances and correct their root causes.
- Improve inventory organization, location controls, traceability, shelf labeling, and material flow.
- Monitor obsolete, excess, damaged, and nonconforming inventory.
- Ensure finished products are promptly placed on the shelf and shown as available in the ERP system.
Shipping and Receiving
- Oversee inbound and outbound shipping and receiving activities.
- Ensure incoming materials are counted, inspected, documented, labeled, and entered into the ERP system.
- Coordinate shipments of parts, materials, and finished products.
- Verify packaging, quantities, labels, shipping documents, and carrier requirements.
- Establish procedures for damaged, incorrect, incomplete, or nonconforming shipments.
- Maintain an organized shipping and receiving area.
- Work with vendors, carriers, customers, and internal departments to resolve shipping issues.
Vehicle-Build Support — Approximately 10%
- Coordinate with the vehicle-build team to identify required parts, materials, and deadlines.
- Ensure required materials are purchased or manufactured, properly identified, and staged on designated shelves.
- Address shortages that could delay a vehicle build.
- Track vehicle-build work orders and job travelers through the ERP system.
- Monitor vehicles through production and assist with inventory, scheduling, and workflow issues.
- Communicate risks or delays to leadership and support accurate work-order closeout.
Process Improvement and Team Leadership
- Create, document, implement, and enforce procedures for purchasing, inventory, production, ERP transactions, shipping, and receiving.
- Establish written procedures and physical workflows for major operational functions.
- Develop checklists, production boards, shelf labels, forms, and visual controls.
- Improve processes to reduce waste, rework, delays, unnecessary material movement, and inventory errors.
- Monitor production output, schedule attainment, inventory accuracy, stock availability, shortages, and on-time shipping.
- Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for recurring problems.
- Provide daily direction to production, inventory, shipping, receiving, purchasing, and material-handling personnel.
- Train employees and hold them accountable for safety, quality, productivity, inventory accuracy, and proper documentation.
Qualifications
- Five or more years of experience in manufacturing operations, production management, inventory management, or a related field.
- Previous leadership experience in manufacturing, fabrication, machining, assembly, automotive, or a similar environment.
- Working knowledge of production planning, purchasing, inventory control, shipping, receiving, and material flow.
- Experience using an ERP system to manage work orders, job travelers, bills of materials, purchasing, inventory, and production.
- Demonstrated ability to implement operational processes and written procedures.
- Strong organizational, problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills.
- Ability to manage changing priorities and resolve shop-floor issues in real time.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet software.
- High school diploma or equivalent required; a related college degree is preferred.
Preferred Experience
- Experience managing a make-to-stock or mixed make-to-stock and make-to-order product line.
- Familiarity with lean manufacturing, 5S, continuous improvement, and root-cause analysis.
- Experience improving ERP, inventory, production-scheduling, warehouse, or shipping processes.
- Experience supporting vehicle, equipment, or multi-stage assembly builds.
- Knowledge of manufacturing quality and safety requirements.
Measures of Success
- Consistent availability of finished products.
- On-time completion of production schedules and customer shipments.
- Accurate inventory and ERP records.
- Reduced material shortages, delays, stockouts, and rework.
- Consistent use of job travelers and documented procedures.
- Organized production, inventory, shipping, and receiving areas.
- Complete and timely staging of vehicle-build materials.
- Safe, productive, and accountable shop-floor operations.
Work Environment
This hands-on position requires regular time on the shop floor around production equipment, vehicles, materials, and shipping and receiving activities. Occasional lifting, standing, walking, and bending may be required.
Position Details
- Job Type: Full-time
- Schedule: Five-day workweek
- Location: Bakersfield, California
- Reports To: President
- Compensation: $85,000 annually
Join us as a Manufacturing Operations Manager where your expertise will shape the future of our manufacturing excellence! We are committed to fostering an innovative environment that values proactive leadership, strategic thinking, and continuous growth—empowering you to make a meaningful impact every day.
Pay: $75,000.00 - $85,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
