Production Manager

Waters Corporation•Milford, MA

7d•$98,000 - $163,000

About The Position

Waters Corporation is seeking a hands-on, team-oriented leader to oversee assembly operations within its manufacturing division. The Production Manager is responsible for Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost (SQDC) performance and manages approximately 35–50 employees across multiple shifts, including production leads. The role ensures seamless production execution while building employee engagement and a culture of continuous improvement. The position oversees production plans, labor and line efficiency, cost performance, workforce development, process improvement, and performance management. It works with production leadership and continuous improvement partners to improve production flow, reduce lead times and costs, address constraints, and sustain performance through daily management and root-cause problem solving.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree and/or a combination of education in industrial engineering or related experience.
At least 7 years of operations experience.
P&L responsibility for a product line, manufacturing department, or site.
Thorough understanding of financial metrics and performance KPIs.
Proven continuous improvement and safety focus.
Demonstrated decision-making and problem-solving skills.
Project management experience.
Strong leadership skills, self-direction, and ability to make independent decisions and influence change management.
Excellent organizational, interpersonal, verbal, written, and presentation skills.
Proficiency with SAP and Microsoft applications.
Familiarity with Bills of Materials (BoM) and production routings.
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and drive corrective actions.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in an engineering, technical, or business discipline.
Operations experience in the electronics, medical device, or biotechnology industry.
Familiarity with Six Sigma and Lean methodologies.
Familiarity with cGMP, ISO 9001:2015, and ISO 13485:2016.

Responsibilities

Champion a physically and mentally safe work environment, build safety awareness, and reduce injuries toward zero incidents.
Create an engaging work environment that motivates employees to improve value-stream processes, serve customers, and achieve individual and team goals.
Meet performance measures and targets for Safety, Quality, Cost, and Delivery.
Achieve production plans and attainment targets, support tactical delivery plans, and maintain product availability for customers.
Meet direct labor and absorption cost targets and achieve expected labor and line efficiency.
Develop cost initiatives and improvement actions.
Build workforce and leadership technical capability through ongoing training and improved employee flexibility.
Sponsor lean operating-system transformation to reduce costs and improve efficiency; champion future-state mapping and adherence to new processes.
Ensure production leadership participates in planning and provides information on headcount availability and time constraints.
Teach, certify, and deploy root-cause problem solving, including 5W and 3S methods; lead kaizen events with continuous improvement partners.
Improve production flow between processes to reduce processing lead times and support rapid market delivery.
Manage departmental employees by setting clear goals and expectations, providing necessary resources, and supporting development.
Apply talent-management processes, identify key employees, and develop career plans.
Achieve Annual Operation Plan results and manage the performance of direct reports.
Develop a thorough understanding of each product line's current processes, bottlenecks, and risks to production flow.
Monitor KPIs through daily management to meet production, quality, and cost targets and sustain a strong performance culture.
Evaluate the effects of process changes and adjust them as needed to maximize benefits.
Perform other job-related duties as assigned.