Manager II

Manufacturing & Operations leadership role at Astemo Americas, Inc. in Findlay, Ohio, responsible for leading daily production activities, high-volume machining operations, safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people leadership across shifts, with regular presence on the manufacturing floor. Work is performed in both office and manufacturing environments.

Responsibilities

Lead daily production activities across assigned departments and shifts, ensuring clear priorities, standard escalation, and effective handoffs; Establish and sustain tiered daily management using visual controls, leader standard work, Gemba observation, and fact-based escalation of abnormal conditions; Monitor plan attainment, OEE, downtime, cycle time, labor efficiency, overtime, scrap, rework, inventory, and other operating indicators; Lead high-volume machining operations with accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, equipment effectiveness, process stability, and workforce performance; Partner with Manufacturing Engineering, Maintenance, and Quality to eliminate chronic losses associated with tooling, machines, fixtures, coolant and chip management, process variation, cycle time, downtime, scrap, and changeover; Create a culture in which safety is a condition of operation and ensure compliance with company requirements and applicable OSHA, EPA, state, and federal regulations; Ensure production controls, standardized work, reaction plans, traceability, error-proofing, and layered process audits are executed and sustained; Partner with Quality and Engineering to address customer concerns, internal defects, repeat failures, and Cost of Poor Quality; Stop or contain production when product or process conditions could affect employee safety, customer requirements, regulatory compliance, or product conformity; Develop and execute production plans, manpower strategies, overtime controls, expense budgets, and capacity actions; Control operating cost through labor productivity, scrap reduction, overtime discipline, consumable control, and inventory management; Lead, coach, and hold accountable production managers, supervisors, and frontline leaders; Build organizational depth through talent assessment, succession planning, cross-training, skills matrices, and development plans for critical roles; Ensure training and qualification systems prepare associates to perform work safely, correctly, and independently; Lead Operations deployment of the site operating system and continuous-improvement priorities; Drive recurring-loss elimination through structured problem solving, 5S, visual management, standard work, line balancing, and Lean manufacturing methods; Partner with Program Management, Engineering, Quality, Maintenance, and other functions to ensure manufacturing readiness for new launches, transferred business, equipment installation, process changes, and capacity expansion; Identify and escalate operational risks before Start of Production and ensure recovery plans protect current customer performance

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant manufacturing leadership experience; Eight or more years of progressive manufacturing experience, including significant leadership responsibility in high-volume machining or precision-manufacturing operations; Demonstrated experience leading multiple departments or shifts, managing budgets and manpower, developing leaders, and improving underperforming operations; Demonstrated technical knowledge of CNC machining processes, cutting tools, tooling and fixtures, workholding, feeds and speeds, GD&T, dimensional control, SPC, process capability, and automated manufacturing equipment; Demonstrated experience improving machining performance through reduction of equipment downtime, tooling losses, scrap, cycle time, changeover losses, and process variation; Strong working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, 5S, visual management, standardized work, OEE, SPC, structured problem solving, root-cause analysis, and corrective action; Experience leading automated machining cells and coordinating Manufacturing Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, and Production resources to resolve complex technical and operational problems; Strong leadership presence, business judgment, accountability, conflict-management, negotiation, data analysis, and change-leadership skills; Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and manufacturing performance-reporting systems

Nice to have

Automotive or similarly regulated manufacturing experience strongly preferred, including responsibility for machining safety, quality, delivery, cost, equipment effectiveness, and workforce performance; Experience supporting machining-equipment and process launches, transferred business, production ramp-up, and cross-functional readiness preferred