Production Manager

A manufacturing company supporting the defense sector is seeking an experienced Production Manager to lead plant execution and take ownership of a critical production organization. This is a high-visibility leadership opportunity for someone who wants to prove their ability to deliver measurable improvement and grow into larger leadership roles. The ideal candidate is hands-on, comfortable leading change, and motivated by the challenge of building a higher-performing operation. Production Manager Responsibilities: - Lead daily production execution to meet customer schedules, build plans, forecasts, and delivery commitments - Own production performance metrics including safety, quality, schedule adherence, throughput, labor efficiency, and cost per unit - Develop and mentor a team of Production Supervisors, building them into stronger leaders who own their department's results - Partner with Maintenance and Engineering to improve equipment reliability, reduce downtime, and remove process constraints - Lead daily management routines and cross-functional meetings to keep the plant aligned and moving forward - Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on material yield, scrap reduction, and labor productivity - Own production budget responsibilities for assigned areas, including labor, overtime, and controllable costs - Participate in new product development, production launch planning, and capacity and labor estimates for proposals - Communicate business objectives, forecast status, and performance risks clearly to senior site leadership Production Manager Requirements - Bachelors degree required - Minimum of 10 years of progressive manufacturing or operations leadership experience - Demonstrated ability to lead supervisors, develop employees, and improve manufacturing performance - Strong understanding of safety, quality, production planning, throughput, labor efficiency, and continuous improvement