Production Operations Manager

Gandy Ink•San Angelo, TX

2d•$80,000 - $120,000•Onsite

About The Position

This position requires 100% in person work at our San Angelo, TX facility. At Gandy Ink we are a tight-knit crew dedicated to becoming the best in the world at our craft while creating fans inside and outside of the company. We live and die, hire and fire by our core values of excellence, teamwork, innovation, and enthusiasm. We develop relationships between staff, vendors, and customers based on trust and respect, while fostering a culture of continuous improvement within each department. We are pursuing growth as a company and are looking for a world-class team member who will walk with us through that journey. Gandy Ink was founded in San Angelo, Texas by Phil Gandy and his father, John Gandy. Phil’s philosophy was to build Gandy Ink by putting our customers first. How? Gandy’s not-so-secret ingredient the can-do attitude of our people. Working together, our service teams, skilled designers and production staff help us ensure the quickest delivery times in the industry. Our service formula and great products mean we get a lot of repeat business from schools, companies, outfitters, social groups, and organizations of all types. Gandy Ink provides a wide range of embellishment applications from screen printing, digital printing, heat applied materials and embroidery using top of the line equipment. We warehouse and embellish our garments right here in San Angelo, TX. Under the direction of the COO, the Operations Production Manager oversees the Screen Print, Embroidery, and Digital Production teams. This role is responsible for developing department managers and their teams through hands-on coaching, with a strong focus on building a culture of continuous improvement, quality, and accountability across all production methods. Work schedule will fluctuate throughout the year, with hours increasing during peak seasons.

Requirements

3+ years of experience in operations or production management, with responsibility over multiple departments or teams
Demonstrated experience leading in a fast-paced manufacturing, distribution, or fulfillment environment
Proven ability to develop leaders, build accountability, and drive performance through coaching and hands-on engagement
Strong communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across departments and levels of the organization
High sense of ownership, urgency, and follow-through
Comfortable using metrics and visual tools to manage performance and drive improvement
Ability to balance strategic thinking with day-to-day execution
Employee must be able to see and hear, read, and write.
Requires adaptability, analyzing, assessing, calculating, decision making, dependability, judgment, reading, speaking, following direction, managing multiple priorities, and reasoning.

Nice To Haves

Strong understanding of Lean principles
Experience in apparel decoration, fulfillment, or warehousing operations
Experience with ERPs, production management, or scheduling systems
Familiarity with basic maintenance programs and workplace safety standards
Bachelor’s degree in operations, business, engineering, or related fields
Leads with humility, ownership, and respect
Assumes zero knowledge and infinite intelligence when teaching, training, and speaking
Embraces servant leadership – Develops people, builds trust, and removes roadblocks
Sees problems as opportunities and encourages others to speak up, take initiative, and improve daily
Balances a sense of urgency with care for people and process

Responsibilities

Lead, develop, and hold accountable the Screen Print, Digital Print, and Embroidery leaders
Model, teach, and embody Lean thinking every day
Drive daily 3S efforts across all production departments, promoting clean, organized, and efficient work environments
Set the standard as a Lean leader by developing team members to recognize and eliminate waste through daily “2-Second Improvements”
Set clear expectations, hold managers accountable to results, and coach through root cause analysis and problem solving
Share improvements weekly through Paylocity
Drive the making and sharing of improvements across the organization, building visibility, momentum, and a shared rhythm of learning across departments
Take extreme ownership of daily performance across Screen Print, Embroidery, and Digital Production departments
Drive schedule attainment, throughput, and efficiency across all production methods
Identify and eliminate bottlenecks; ensure proper scheduling, staffing, training, and cross-training to meet demand and reduce downtime
Collaborate with Pre-Production Operations and Warehouse/Fulfillment teams to ensure smooth production flow and on-time delivery
Review daily and weekly production metrics with COO and department managers, maintaining transparency on performance trends
Ensure all production departments meet or exceed internal quality standards and customer expectations.
Reduce defects and rework through continuous process improvements
Develop a culture where team members are trained and empowered to identify and prevent issues early in the process; “Stop-And-Fix” is the standard
Collaborate with Pre-Production Operations to ensure color accuracy, consistency, and compatibility across all production methods
Take ownership of consumables management across Screen Print, Embroidery, and Digital Production
Track and reduce consumables waste by building simple, repeatable systems that hit budget goals
Co-manage production budgets in partnership with the COO
Production spending maintained within +/- 5% of approved annual budget
Recommend capital investments and production improvements for leadership approval
Oversee department facilities, equipment, and safety practices in collaboration with the Facilities & Maintenance team
Ensure preventive maintenance and safe operating conditions are in place across all production departments
Participate in company-level improvement projects (kaizen events), strategic planning sessions, and process redesign initiatives
Collaborate with necessary teams to improve system tools, reporting, and workflow automation
Support the overall mission of the company with a servant-leadership approach and extreme ownership
Other duties as assigned