Associate Production Manager

Role Purpose

The Associate Production Manager will support manufacturing operations departments to achieve performance objectives in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity. The role provides both strategic and day-to-day leadership to production teams, ensuring operational excellence, workforce capability, and alignment with plant and business priorities.

This role is intended to identify and develop an individual to ascend into a future Department Head role. This role is designed as a near-term broadening opportunity to develop and position a future successor at. While engaging in Optical Fiber Manufacturing, the Associate Production manager will lead critical, plantwide projects focused on labor optimization, new technology receivership, and capacity expansions.

Location: Concord, NC or Wilmington, NC

Key Responsibilities

• Responsibilities include leading large-scale projects, process improvements, and supporting functional departments plant wide
• Support department operations to achieve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity targets
• Foster and maintain a safe work environment, ensuring compliance with all safety, environmental, and company standards
• Provide leadership and direction to production teams and supervisors, including coaching, performance management, and development
• Support planning and allocate labor, equipment, and materials to meet production demand and operational priorities
• Lead resolution of operational issues through data-driven problem solving and cross-functional collaboration
• Support new product introduction, equipment installation, and start-up activities to ensure successful transition into manufacturing
• Communicate operational performance, priorities, and risks to plant leadership and key stakeholders

Experiences/Education - Required

• Bachelor’s degree required; Engineering or technical discipline preferred
• Minimum 5 years of manufacturing or operations experience
• Minimum 3 years of leadership or supervisory experience in a manufacturing environment

Required Skills and Competencies

• Demonstrated leadership in manufacturing operations with a strong focus on safety and performance
• Proven ability to lead, develop, and motivate teams while delivering results
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills using data and operational metrics
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Effective verbal and written communication skills across all levels of the organization
• Strong organizational, planning, and execution skills

Experiences/Education - Desired

• Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement experience
• Experience supporting new product introduction, equipment start-up, or process transfers into manufacturing
• Exposure to multiple equipment platforms or manufacturing processes
• 8  years of manufacturing or operations experience
• 5 years of leadership or supervisory experience in a manufacturing environment

Leadership Competencies

• Coaching and talent development
• Accountability and performance management
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Conflict resolution and decision-making