Manufacturing Operations Manager
Great Southern Wood Preserving•Mansura, LA
•Onsite
About The Position
Great Southern Wood – LA, Inc., the makers of YellaWood® pressure-treated lumber, is seeking an experienced Manufacturing Operations Manager to lead the manufacturing division at one of our production facilities. This role owns the full operational rhythm of the plant — from safety and staffing to scheduling and output — and reports directly to the General Manager.
Requirements
- 5+ years of manufacturing operations/plant management experience; wood products, lumber, or industrial manufacturing background preferred
- Demonstrated experience with production scheduling and forecasting tools
- Experience with inventory management systems (ERP/WMS) and cycle counting processes
- Strong knowledge of OSHA safety regulations and manufacturing compliance
- Proven leadership managing multi-shift hourly workforces
- Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to balance long-term planning with real-time operational decision-making
Responsibilities
- Direct day-to-day manufacturing operations across all shifts, ensuring alignment with corporate production and quality standards
- Serve as the primary point of accountability for plant performance, coordinating across departments (sales, production, maintenance, quality, and shipping)
- Own plant safety programs, ensuring compliance with OSHA and company safety standards
- Lead safety training, audits, and incident investigations; drive a culture of proactive hazard identification and continuous safety improvement
- Design and oversee onboarding and ongoing training programs for production staff
- Build cross-training plans to increase workforce flexibility and reduce single points of failure
- Evaluate performance and support employee development and retention
- Monitor key operational metrics (throughput, downtime, waste, labor efficiency) and drive continuous improvement initiatives
- Identify bottlenecks and implement process changes to improve line efficiency and reduce cost per unit
- Own both reactive and proactive scheduling functions: Reactive scheduling: Adjust daily/weekly production plans in response to equipment downtime, material shortages, labor availability, or urgent order changes. Proactive scheduling: Build forward-looking production schedules based on sales forecasts, seasonal demand trends, and inventory targets to minimize disruption and maximize plant utilization
- Coordinate with sales, procurement, and logistics teams to align production output with customer demand and raw material (lumber) availability
- Maintain accurate real-time inventory counts of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods
- Implement and enforce cycle counting procedures to identify and correct discrepancies between system and physical inventory
- Partner with warehouse and logistics teams to ensure accurate receiving, put-away, and shipping transactions are reflected in inventory systems
- Use inventory data integrity as a direct input into production scheduling decisions — ensuring forecasts and schedules are built on reliable stock levels rather than assumptions
- Investigate and resolve root causes of inventory variances (shrinkage, miscounts, system errors) to prevent recurring issues
- Support month-end/quarter-end inventory reconciliation and audits
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Paid vacation and holidays
- 401(k) with company match
- Flexible spending accounts
- Dependent scholarship program
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Education Level
No Education Listed
