Production Manager

Waters Corporation•Milford, MA

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 reliable execution of production processes while fostering continuous improvement, employee engagement, and a strong performance culture. The position oversees production planning and attainment, labor and line efficiency, cost performance, workforce capability, and operational improvement initiatives. It sponsors lean operating system transformation, supports production flow and reduced lead times, and applies structured problem-solving and daily management practices to sustain results. The manager is also responsible for employee development and performance management, and for achieving Annual Operation Plan results.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree and/or a combination of education in industrial engineering or related experience.
At least 7 years of experience in operations.
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 the 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

A master’s degree in an engineering, technical, or business discipline.
Operations experience in the electronic, 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 and drive injury reduction toward zero incidents.
Create an 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 to support delivery plans and product availability.
Meet direct-labor and absorption cost targets, labor and line efficiency expectations, and resource requirements.
Develop cost actions and improvement initiatives.
Develop workforce and leadership technical capability through ongoing training, improving flexibility and individual capability.
Sponsor lean operating system transformation to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Champion implementation of a future-state map and develop a plan for adherence to new processes.
Ensure production leadership participates in and commits to the planning handshake, providing insight into headcount availability and constraint time.
Demonstrate, teach, certify, and deploy root-cause problem-solving methods, including 5W and 3S.
Lead kaizen events in collaboration with continuous-improvement partners.
Execute rapid market-delivery strategies by creating production flow between processes and reducing processing lead times.
Manage departmental employees by setting clear goals and expectations, providing resources, and supporting employee development.
Apply talent-management processes consistently, identify key resources, and develop career plans.
Achieve Annual Operation Plan results and manage the performance of direct reports.
Develop a complete understanding of each product line’s current process, including bottlenecks and risks that could interrupt or slow production flow.
Monitor KPIs through daily management to achieve production, quality, and cost targets and sustain performance.
Monitor the effects of process changes and adjust as needed to maximize their benefits.
Perform other job-related duties as assigned.