About Bison Profab
Bison Profab is a trusted manufacturer of high-quality custom enclosures and metal fabrication solutions, known for craftsmanship, reliability, and a commitment to doing things the right way. Our culture blends structure with genuine care for people, emphasizing clear communication, respectful collaboration, continuous improvement, and strong personal ownership. We operate under the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), with well-defined roles, measurable priorities, and disciplined processes that support accountability and data-driven decision-making. Through tools like L10 meetings, scorecards, and open issue-solving, team members are empowered to contribute ideas, refine workflows, and strengthen operational clarity. At Bison, people thrive when they “Get It, Want It, and Have the Capacity to Do It” — and when they embrace a positive, team-first mindset that supports both individual excellence and collective success.
About the Opportunity
We are a fast-growing, high-energy sheet metal fabrication company — and we are looking for a proven Production Manager to take full ownership of throughput across our entire production operation: Fabrication, Welding, Powder Coating, and Assembly.
This is a true P&L-minded operations leadership role. Each year, Bison deploys an annual company budget, and the Production Manager is directly responsible and accountable for delivering the production side of that budget — the revenue and shipping numbers, and the gross margin targets that go with them. You will run the shop to a plan, measure performance against it weekly, and own the results.
This is not a sit-in-the-office role. You will lead from the floor, managing a team of 60–70+ employees (and growing) through your supervisors and leads, building the people, systems, and discipline that allow us to grow without sacrificing quality, on-time delivery, or customer satisfaction.
Above all, we are looking for a people-first leader. Equipment and processes matter, but our success depends on a leader who understands people — someone who earns trust on the shop floor, develops talent, holds a high standard with respect, and builds a culture people want to be part of.
What You Will Own
- Budget performance: Deliver the annual budget’s revenue and shipped-dollar targets and meet gross margin targets through labor efficiency, throughput, and waste reduction.
- Throughput: Full responsibility for production output across all departments — Fabrication (shear, punch, brake, laser, PEM), Welding, Powder Coating, and Assembly.
- On-time delivery: Own the production schedule from job release to ship date and ensure commitments to customers are met.
- Quality: Partner with QA/QC to ensure every enclosure is built right the first time — correct counts, profiles, bend deductions, weld seams, and BOM accuracy.
- People: Hiring, training, development, performance, and retention of a 60–70+ person production team across two shifts.
- Safety: Maintain a safe working environment, enforce PPE standards, and build a culture where safety is non-negotiable.
Financial & Budget Accountability
The Production Manager is held accountable for the success of the production plan within the annual company budget, deployed once a year. Specifically, this role:
- Owns the monthly and annual shipping plan — the shipped revenue ($) that production must deliver to meet the company budget.
- Is accountable for meeting gross margin targets on production output by managing labor hours to estimate, machine utilization, overtime, scrap, and rework.
- Translates the annual budget into weekly and monthly production targets by department, and manages capacity, staffing, and scheduling to hit them.
- Tracks actual performance against budget weekly (shipped dollars, labor efficiency, margin drivers) using ERP data and the production scorecard; reports results and gaps to the COO.
- Identifies variances early, communicates risks to the schedule or margin proactively, and drives corrective action plans — not excuses.
- Provides input to the annual budgeting process: capacity, headcount, equipment, and capital needs required to support the revenue plan.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Production Leadership & Throughput
- Plan, direct, and coordinate daily production across Fabrication, Welding, Powder Coating, and Assembly to meet or exceed productivity targets.
- Own the production scheduling plan; assign work across departments and rebalance labor and machine capacity to keep jobs flowing and due dates protected.
- Lead from the shop floor — a visible, engaged presence who removes roadblocks, makes decisions quickly, and keeps work moving.
- Drive ERP execution on the shop floor (e.g., Acumatica/E2): real-time job tracking, accurate labor reporting, and adherence to SOPs — the data that budget accountability depends on.
- Review prints at job release to confirm projects align with our capabilities; resolve manufacturability issues before they hit the floor.
- Oversee facility and equipment readiness, including preventive maintenance, so capacity is never lost to avoidable downtime.
People Leadership & Team Development
- Build, lead, and develop a team of 60–70+ employees through department supervisors and leads, across first and second shift.
- Develop your supervisors into strong leaders; build bench strength so the organization can scale ahead of growth.
- Set clear, documented expectations for every role; ensure all employees are properly trained and time standards are tracked.
- Monitor attendance and performance, conduct reviews, coach for improvement, and implement corrective action plans fairly and consistently.
- Conduct interviews, assess candidates, and make hiring decisions to staff for growth.
- Run weekly L10/production meetings with the production team and monthly meetings with department managers; communicate priorities so every shift knows what winning looks like.
- Foster a high-energy, respectful culture where people are heard, developed, and held accountable.
Quality, Delivery & Customer Satisfaction
- Ensure quality control benchmarks are met or exceeded at every stage — from first piece through final assembly.
- Review in-process checks with the QC department; ensure assembly builds to the correct BOM and escalate issues immediately.
- Support the QA Manager in maintaining ISO 9001:2015 and related compliance requirements (ATEX/IECEx, UL, NEMA) on the production floor, including NCR and corrective action follow-through.
- Own the Scrap and Rework process; ensure forms and production reports are completed daily and drive root-cause fixes that protect margin.
- Treat on-time delivery and customer satisfaction as the scoreboard — communicate proactively when risks to schedule emerge.
Continuous Improvement & Safety
- Champion continuous improvement — preach it, believe it, and drive it — using Lean, 5S, and Six Sigma tools to increase throughput, reduce waste, and improve margin.
- Identify improvement projects, prioritize them, and drive them to completion with measurable results.
- Maintain cleanliness and organization (5S) throughout the shop.
- Ensure a safe working environment; lead by example on PPE and safety practices every day.
- Coordinate daily shop supply needs with the Purchasing Manager.
- Perform additional responsibilities and duties as delegated.
Operating Cadence
- Daily: Walk the floor across all departments; review schedule status, staffing, and bottlenecks; resolve issues same-day.
- Weekly: Lead the production L10 meeting; review the scorecard — shipped dollars vs. plan, labor efficiency, OTD, scrap/rework, safety; rebalance the schedule as needed.
- Monthly: Review month-end results against budget (revenue shipped, gross margin, productivity) with the COO; meet with department managers; address training and performance gaps.
- Quarterly: Review capacity, headcount, and equipment plans against the growth forecast; set and review departmental goals and improvement priorities.
Key Performance Indicators
Performance is measured against the annual company budget and production scorecard, including targets such as:
- Shipped revenue vs. budget — monthly and annual plan attainment (target: 100%).
- Gross margin on production output vs. budget targets.
- On-time delivery rate (e.g., ≥ 95%).
- Labor efficiency — actual hours vs. estimated hours by job.
- Scrap and rework as a percentage of cost of goods sold — trending down.
- Safety — recordable incidents trending to zero.
- Team health — turnover, attendance, internal promotions, and training completion.
Qualifications & Experience
Required
- 7–10+ years of experience in the sheet metal / fabrication industry; leadership experience in a manufacturing environment is a must.
- Proven success leading large teams (50+ employees) through supervisors and leads, ideally across multiple shifts.
- Demonstrated accountability for budget-level results — revenue/shipping plans, gross margin, and labor cost — in a manufacturing operation.
- Demonstrated ownership of throughput, on-time delivery, and quality results in a high-mix or high-volume environment.
- Ability to read and interpret production and financial data — job costing, labor variance, and margin reporting.
- Strong working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, 5S, and Six Sigma practices.
- Ability to read and comprehend fabrication prints; strong understanding of production processes, quality control, and safety standards.
- Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities under real-world production pressure.
- Exceptional people skills — the ability to understand, motivate, and develop people at every level of the organization.
- Ability to proficiently operate and troubleshoot shop equipment; must successfully pass operation tests for shear, brake, punch, and laser machinery, as well as forklift certification.
Preferred
- Experience managing powder coating, welding, and assembly operations in addition to fabrication.
- Familiarity with ERP systems such as Acumatica and E2.
- Experience working within EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) or a similar operating framework.
- Familiarity with ISO 9001:2015 environments; exposure to ATEX/IECEx, UL, or NEMA requirements is a plus.
- Bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish.
- Experience scaling a production operation through rapid growth.
Who Thrives in This Role
This position is ideal for someone who is:
- Accountable, taking full ownership of numbers and never hiding from a miss.
- Hands-on and visible, leading by walking the floor, not from behind a desk.
- People-first, genuinely understanding people, earning trust, and developing leaders.
- Numbers-driven, comfortable reading job cost, labor, and margin data and acting on it.
- Calm under pressure, keeping 60–70+ people aligned across multiple departments and shifts.
- A continuous improver, energized by growth and constantly raising the bar.
- Team-first — someone who truly “Gets It, Wants It, and Has the Capacity to Do It.”
Physical Requirements
- Must be able to lift 40 lbs.
- Standing and bending for extended periods, with little or no time sitting.
- Ability to work in a non-climate-controlled manufacturing environment.
Why Bison Profab
We are growing fast and investing in the people and equipment to keep growing. You will have real authority, real ownership of results, and the backing of leadership to build the production organization the right way. Success in this role is a launchpad: as Bison grows, so does the scope of this position. If you love the energy of a busy shop floor, take pride in hitting your numbers, and believe great manufacturing starts with great people — this role was written for you.
Disclaimer: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this job description. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of individuals so classified. All personnel may be required to perform additional responsibilities outside the scope of essential day-to-day duties as listed in this job description.
Pay: From $90,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
