Operations Manager II

Apogee Enterprises, Inc.•Reed City, MI

21d

About The Position

The Manager, Operations II provides senior operational leadership for a large, complex manufacturing operation or serves as the primary operations leader for a smaller standalone facility. The position has expanded accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, workforce performance, capacity, and continuous improvement. At larger locations, the role leads a significant operation or value stream and reports to the Director, Operations. At smaller locations, it provides overall site leadership aligned with broader business and Metals priorities. This is a customer-centric business leadership role that champions Total Quality Management, continuous improvement, clear communication, and disciplined execution. The manager establishes role clarity, develops capable leaders, and creates a culture of ownership and accountability, ensuring that safety, quality, delivery, cost, and customer commitments are understood and actively managed throughout the operation. The position oversees daily production, monitors schedules, inventory, and workflows, and manages labor, equipment, and materials. It leads and develops supervisors and frontline employees; maintains quality systems and regulatory compliance; enforces safety and environmental policies; and coordinates with maintenance to support equipment reliability and uptime. The manager uses data and structured problem-solving to guide decisions and sustain improvements, while leading Daily Management, tier meetings, visual management, leader standard work, and escalation processes. The role drives process improvement and root-cause elimination to reduce variation, scrap, rework, cost of poor quality, customer complaints, and repeat defects. It incorporates customer feedback and corrective actions into operating routines, aligns capacity and improvement priorities with customer expectations, tracks and reports KPIs to senior leadership, and coordinates across supply chain, engineering, maintenance, quality, EHS, HR, Finance, and commercial teams. The position may involve overnight travel, variable by project and business activity, expected up to 20%.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business or engineering.
Strong operations leadership experience.
10 or more years of progressive manufacturing operations leadership experience, including responsibility for a large or complex operation, significant value stream, or standalone manufacturing facility.
Demonstrated experience leading and developing supervisors and other operational leaders.
Accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, labor, productivity, and overall operational performance.
Experience leading operational improvement, transformation, or turnaround initiatives.
Experience with workforce and capacity planning, budgeting, and capital prioritization.
Demonstrated experience partnering across production, supply chain, engineering, quality, EHS, HR, and Finance.
Strong business acumen and ability to balance customer demand, capacity, labor, quality, cost, and long-term operational priorities.
Clear and effective communication skills, including translating strategy into priorities, influencing cross-functional partners, and leading through change.
Ability to establish role clarity, ownership, accountability, and operating discipline across multiple leadership levels.
Working knowledge of Total Quality Management, Lean, Daily Management, value-stream improvement, and structured root-cause problem-solving.
Demonstrated customer-centric leadership and ability to connect operational performance to customer experience and business commitments.
Ability to work in both office and manufacturing environments.
Ability to lift up to 50 lbs.

Nice To Haves

MBA.
Advanced operations or Lean credentials for multi-site scope.

Responsibilities

Oversee daily manufacturing operations to ensure timely and cost-effective production.
Monitor production schedules, inventory levels, and workflow to meet customer demand.
Lead, coach, and develop supervisors and frontline employees.
Promote a work environment focused on teamwork, accountability, and performance.
Ensure products meet quality standards and regulatory requirements, and implement and maintain quality control systems and procedures.
Enforce safety policies and procedures and ensure compliance with environmental regulations and company sustainability goals.
Identify and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency and reduce waste, using Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or other methodologies.
Manage labor, equipment, and materials to optimize plant performance, and coordinate with maintenance to ensure equipment reliability and uptime.
Use data and structured problem-solving to support timely decisions, resource prioritization, and sustained improvements.
Ensure teams understand expected performance by hour, shift, day, and week and can identify priorities, abnormalities, owners, and recovery actions.
Lead and sustain Daily Management, tier meetings, visual management, leader standard work, and escalation processes.
Create a high-ownership culture in which operational leaders are accountable for safety, quality, delivery, cost, workforce performance, and continuous improvement.
Develop leaders who identify issues early, escalate appropriately, make sound decisions, and follow through on commitments.
Establish clear expectations, decision rights, role clarity, and measurable accountability throughout the operation.
Integrate quality performance, corrective actions, and customer feedback into Daily Management and tier accountability routines.
Lead structured problem-solving and root-cause elimination to reduce variation, scrap, rework, COPQ, customer complaints, and repeat defects.
Champion Total Quality Management by building quality into processes and emphasizing prevention over detection.
Make and guide decisions that consider customer impact and proactively address risks to quality, lead time, and On Time & Complete performance.
Align operating priorities, capacity decisions, and improvement activities with customer expectations and business commitments.
Lead operations with a focus on customer satisfaction, product quality, delivery reliability, and responsiveness.
Track and report key performance indicators to senior leadership.
Collaborate and build alignment across supply chain, engineering, maintenance, quality, EHS, HR, Finance, and commercial teams.
Translate business strategy into actionable objectives and ensure responsibilities, decision rights, and performance expectations are understood.
Communicate business priorities, customer commitments, operating results, and changes clearly and consistently at the appropriate organizational level.

Benefits

Competitive benefits package for employees and dependents, including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverage.
Incentive plans.
401(k) with employer contribution and match.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan with employer match.
Paid time off, including vacation and sick time.
Paid holidays.
Tuition reimbursement program.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Wellness program.
Training and career progression.