Manufacturing Operations Manager

Reporting to the President, the  Operations Manager  is a critical hands‑on operational leadership role that oversees production, maintenance, production planning, and project management of our client’s manufacturing facility. The role will lead day‑to‑day operations, drive performance and support continuous improvement and other key projects in a growing and customized engineering manufacturing environment. You will have approximately 6-8 reports including Production, Project Management, Maintenance and General Support Team.

You will communicate with and have key relationships with Production Supervisor, Lead Hands, Team Managers across the organization and Production Technicians (in a unionized environment).

Our Client:
A decades‑old  exchangers and vessels fabricating company in Sarnia  that offers a fully integrated experience, including engineering, machining, welding & testing. They bring deep knowledge and offer the highest standards of quality.

What you will do:

Operational Leadership:

Collaborate with Production Supervisor, Shop and Machine Shop Lead Hands, Project Management, Quality, Engineering and Purchasing to ensure coordination and timely completion of contracts as well as budget, quality, safety performance.

Develop and implement short- & long‑term operational plans that improve performance, reliability, and operational efficiency objectives.

Collaborate with department managers to set expectations, track results and hold teams accountable.

Ensure strong cross‑functional integration of the operational process (PM, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance)

Act as the operational counterpart to Project Management:

Jointly own job kick‑offs, master plan creation and updates, and risk registers.

Provide realistic execution inputs to bids and change orders when requested.

Partner with Engineering to:

Ensure drawings and technical clarifications arrive in time and are practical for fabrication.

Promote “design for manufacturability” and feedback from the shop into design standards.

Partner with Supply Chain to:

Confirm material and consumable availability in line with the Weekly Plan.

Resolve escalations on late POs, wrong materials, missing requirements.

Create and maintain operational reporting and KPIs to evaluate performance and drive improvements. Productivity, Cost and Asset Utilization. Monitor and improve labor productivity at work‑center and job level:
Hours vs plan, overtime levels, rework and idle time.

Support Finance/Controller in understanding:
Drivers of job margin (labor overrun, rework, scrap, waiting on info, etc.). Required actions to improve cost performance.

Collaborate and coordinate with the Quality team to integrate the appropriate activities, required inspection & testing while optimizing schedule and client contract commitments. Treat Quality as a critical internal customer: no “us vs them”; jointly solve problems.

Support root cause analysis on NCRs and ensure process changes are implemented on the shop floor.

Identify potential capital, facility investments

Drive basic lean and 5S practices on the shop floor to reduce waste and variability.

Maintain, develop or support Quality Control, production, company, policy and procedural updates, Non‑compliance and appropriate client documentation.

Participate on the OHSC as a management representative.

Planning, Scheduling and Execution:

Own execution of the master plans for all jobs in the shop:

Convert project schedules into realistic, levelled production plans.

Balance jobs across areas, equipment, and shifts.

Lead the daily and weekly operating cadence:

Floor Readiness Walk, Daily Ops & Quality Huddle, Daily Leadership Check.

Weekly Integrated Operations Review and Friday Next Week Lock‑In.

Manage the Shop and Associates:

Evaluate, optimize group size & capability

Recruit & hire as required

With the Production Supervisor establish shift schedules and implement overtime where required

In collaboration with Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS), ensure all associates have training and certifications to safely perform work and comply with applicable regulatory requirements. Lead a safety‑first culture in the shop: PPE, Housekeeping,…