Shift Operations Manager

Grede•Reedsburg, WI

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Join our team as a Shift Operations Manager! This is an off-shift position with flexible hours, typically from early evening to early morning, Monday through Friday, with occasional weekend coverage required. The role involves leading all foundry operations on the third shift, ensuring adherence to production schedules, process parameters, and quality requirements. You will maintain accountability for shift performance, including safety, throughput, scrap, rework, labor utilization, and housekeeping. The position requires executing daily operational plans, adjusting resources in real time, and ensuring strict compliance with standard work, work instructions, and IATF/ISO requirements. A key aspect of this role is championing a zero-incident safety culture, enforcing all safety policies, and ensuring environmental and foundry-specific compliance. You will also supervise, coach, and develop hourly team members, manage attendance and performance, and foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Ensuring casting quality and partnering with Quality and Engineering to address defects are also critical responsibilities. Clear communication and accurate record-keeping are essential for shift handoffs and reporting.

Requirements

3+ years of foundry or heavy manufacturing experience; ductile iron experience preferred.
Prior supervisory or team‑lead experience in a high‑volume industrial environment.
Understanding of melting, molding, core making, sand systems, and casting defect terminology is preferred.
Demonstrated ability to lead teams, enforce standards, and drive operational discipline.
Working knowledge of lean manufacturing, 5S, and root‑cause problem solving.
Ability to work independently as the primary on‑shift leader with sound judgment and decision‑making.

Nice To Haves

Ductile iron experience
Understanding of melting, molding, core making, sand systems, and casting defect terminology

Responsibilities

Lead all foundry operations on third shift, ensuring adherence to established production schedules, process parameters, and quality requirements.
Maintain full accountability for shift performance, including safety, throughput, scrap, rework, labor utilization, and housekeeping.
Execute daily operational plans and adjust resources in real time to meet production commitments.
Ensure strict compliance with standard work, work instructions, and IATF/ISO requirements.
Champion a zero‑incident safety culture; enforce all safety policies, PPE requirements, and lockout/tagout procedures.
Conduct safety talks, audits, and near‑miss reviews; initiate immediate corrective actions.
Ensure environmental controls and foundry‑specific compliance requirements (melting, sand systems, emissions) are followed.
Supervise, coach, and develop hourly team members across molding, core, melting, shakeout, and finishing.
Manage attendance, timekeeping integrity, performance, and corrective actions with fairness and consistency.
Promote cross‑training and skill development to strengthen workforce flexibility and capability.
Foster a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
Ensure all castings produced on shift meet dimensional, metallurgical, and visual quality standards.
Partner with Quality and Engineering to contain defects, execute countermeasures, and maintain process discipline.
Verify adherence to process parameters for molding, melting, pouring, and cooling.
Lead first‑piece inspections, process checks, and documentation as required.
Provide clear, concise shift‑to‑shift handoffs, including production status, downtime, quality issues, and personnel matters.
Maintain accurate records of production, scrap, downtime, and safety events.
Escalate critical issues promptly to Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Engineering leadership.