Location: Santa Fe Springs, CA — 100% onsite
KORE1, a nationwide provider of staffing and recruiting solutions, has an immediate opening for an Operations Manager – Batch/Process Manufacturing | Production, Inventory & Continuous Improvement
The Operations Manager provides leadership, management, and accountability across manufacturing operations, with a primary focus on developing frontline leaders, strengthening operational discipline, improving warehouse/inventory and material flow, and driving process improvement.
This role oversees Production, Packaging, Scheduling, Warehouse/Shipping, and Maintenance, but is not expected to personally run each function. The Operations Manager leads through Production Supervisors and Leads, the Production Scheduler, Warehouse Manager, and Maintenance Supervisor — developing these leaders into accountable department owners while ensuring safe, efficient, reliable execution.
This is a hands-on leadership role requiring meaningful floor presence along with strong systems, planning, KPI management, accountability, and follow-through. The Operations Manager reports to the General Manager and will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on both day-to-day execution and longer-term operational improvement.
Key ResponsibilitiesLeadership & Operational Accountability
- Lead, coach, and develop Production Supervisors/Leads and operational department leaders.
- Develop Supervisors into accountable department owners responsible for schedule execution, safety, labor performance, yield loss, ERP discipline, and employee accountability.
- Establish clear expectations, operating rhythms, KPIs, ownership, and follow-through across Operations.
- Lead Operations meetings and ensure priorities, issues, owners, and corrective actions are clearly identified and completed.
- Build leadership depth and operational capability as the company grows.
- Maintain strong floor visibility while ensuring department leaders remain accountable for managing their respective functions.
Production & Schedule Execution
- Oversee daily Production and Packaging execution through Production Supervisors and Leads.
- Partner with the Production Scheduler to ensure schedules are realistic, current, visible, and effectively executed.
- Monitor schedule attainment and identify root causes of missed commitments.
- Identify and address labor, material, equipment, warehouse, or quality constraints impacting production.
- Use ERP/MRP data, capacity information, labor data, and operational KPIs to drive decisions and corrective actions.
- Improve labor efficiency, yield performance, production reporting, and overall execution.
Warehouse, Inventory & Material Flow
- Lead Warehouse and Shipping performance through the Warehouse Manager.
- Drive improvements in inventory accuracy, cycle counting, material staging, lot/location control, ERP transaction discipline, shipping readiness, and overall material flow.
- Reduce production delays caused by missing, misplaced, unstaged, or incorrectly identified materials.
- Strengthen processes around inventory control, material identification, storage, and movement.
- Prepare Warehouse and Production operations for future system and technology improvements, including potential barcoding or other automated controls.
Process Improvement, Automation & Operational Systems
- Identify bottlenecks, recurring operational issues, and opportunities to improve efficiency, reliability, and scalability.
- Lead or support process improvements, automation initiatives, equipment upgrades, facility/layout improvements, and capital projects.
- Improve workflows across Production, Warehouse, Scheduling, and Maintenance.
- Support equipment selection, implementation planning, training, documentation, and sustainment of improvements.
- Balance immediate operational needs with longer-term improvements to systems, processes, equipment, and plant capabilities.
Maintenance & Equipment Reliability
- Lead Maintenance priorities through the Maintenance Supervisor.
- Ensure maintenance activity supports production uptime, schedule attainment, safety, and equipment reliability.
- Partner with Maintenance on preventive maintenance, recurring equipment issues, repairs, outside vendors, and equipment improvement opportunities.
- Support equipment upgrades, automation, and capital projects.
Safety, Quality & Regulatory Execution
- Partner with Quality, Technical Services, and Safety resources to ensure operational compliance with applicable safety, quality, EH&S, regulatory, labeling, storage, and documentation requirements.
- Ensure operational follow-through on rework, rejects, batch/packaging errors, yield loss, non-conformances, CAPAs, incidents, and corrective actions.
- Maintain strong housekeeping, plant organization, material-storage, and audit-readiness standards across Operations.
Key Performance Areas
Success will be measured across areas including:
- Supervisor development and accountability
- Schedule attainment
- Labor efficiency and overtime control
- Yield loss reduction
- ERP/MRP transaction accuracy
- Warehouse inventory accuracy and cycle-count discipline
- Material staging and flow
- Safety performance
- Quality and corrective-action follow-through
- Equipment uptime and reliability
- Process-improvement execution
- Capital project and automation execution
Required Qualifications
- Proven manufacturing leadership experience in a batch/process environment, such as chemical, food, beverage, personal care, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, or similar manufacturing.
- Demonstrated success developing Supervisors and Leads while driving execution and accountability.
- Experience leading through frontline or functional leaders rather than personally owning all day-to-day tactical activity.
- Strong ERP/MRP experience and operational data discipline.
- Experience using ERP/MRP data and operational KPIs to identify problems, establish accountability, and drive improvement.
- Demonstrated experience improving warehouse/inventory controls and/or material flow.
- Experience driving schedule execution or schedule-attainment improvement.
- Strong understanding of labor efficiency, yield/loss, production performance, and operational KPIs.
- Experience with maintenance prioritization and/or equipment-reliability support.
- Experience leading or supporting process improvements, capital projects, equipment upgrades, or automation initiatives.
- Strong Excel and KPI analysis/review capabilities.
- Strong leadership and communication skills, including the ability to address performance issues, challenge assumptions, and drive accountability professionally.
- College degree not required; equivalent manufacturing leadership experience will be considered.
Preferred Qualifications
- Chemical manufacturing, chemical blending, food/beverage, or other regulated batch/process manufacturing experience.
- Bilingual Spanish strongly preferred, but not required.
- Experience in regulated manufacturing environments involving FDA, USDA, GMP, SQF, HACCP, OSHA, DOT, EPA, or similar requirements.
- Experience with Lean, continuous improvement, EOS, Kanban, or similar operating/process-improvement methodologies.
- Experience improving cycle counting, inventory variance, lot/location control, FIFO/best-by-date management, or other inventory-control processes.
- Experience with plant automation, barcoding, equipment upgrades, facility/layout improvements, or other operational technology initiatives.
Compensation is $140-160K plus 20% bonus
Pay: $100,000.00 - $160,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
