Upstream Manufacturing Supervisor

Agilent Technologies•North Kingstown, RI

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Manufacturing Operations Supervisor is responsible for leading daily manufacturing execution for a chemical reference standards operation producing organic and inorganic chemical standards, reagents, and related products. This role ensures safe, compliant, efficient, and customer-focused production while developing people, strengthening technical capability, and driving continuous improvement across manufacturing processes, systems, and performance metrics. The successful candidate will combine hands-on manufacturing leadership with strong chemistry knowledge, operational discipline, and data-driven decision making. This role is expected to build a high-performing team culture, improve production flow, support quality and regulatory compliance, and partner cross-functionally with Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Planning, Procurement, Logistics, Engineering, Technical Support, and Commercial teams. This is a 100% on‑site role based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island . Applicants must already reside locally or within a reasonable commuting distance. Relocation is not provided.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Engineering, or a related technical discipline; equivalent experience may be considered.
Experience leading manufacturing, production, laboratory operations, or technical operations in a chemical, or regulated manufacturing environment.
Working knowledge of organic and inorganic chemistry concepts, chemical formulation, solution preparation, raw material control, and safe chemical handling practices.
Demonstrated ability to lead people, manage priorities, communicate clearly, and build trust with production teams and cross-functional partners.
Experience using data to monitor performance, solve problems, identify process gaps, and drive operational decisions.
Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to balance safety, quality, delivery, cost, and customer impact.
Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced manufacturing environment with changing priorities and operational constraints.

Nice To Haves

Experience with SAP or a similar ERP system for production orders, inventory transactions, material availability, scheduling, or manufacturing execution.
Experience in ISO 9001, ISO 17025, ISO 17034, GMP, DEA-regulated, or other regulated quality environments.
Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, root cause analysis, visual management, standard work, or operational excellence experience.
Experience leading supervisors, leads, chemists, technicians, operators, or cross-functional project teams.
Familiarity with analytical chemistry, chemical standards, certified reference materials, traceability, stability, or quality control testing.
Familiarity and experience with dangerous goods shipping, regulations, and transport.
Advanced Excel, Power BI, SQL, or other data analysis, programming, and reporting skills.

Responsibilities

Lead daily manufacturing operations to meet safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity goals for catalog and custom chemical standards.
Ensure production activities involving organic and inorganic chemistry are executed according to approved procedures, specifications, and applicable regulatory expectations.
Promote a strong safety culture, ensure proper chemical handling practices, and maintain compliance with site procedures, environmental health and safety requirements, and quality system expectations.
Partner with Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and technical teams to resolve production issues, support investigations, reduce nonconformances, and maintain process integrity.
Identify and lead improvements that reduce waste, improve flow, increase schedule adherence, strengthen standard work, and improve productivity using lean, root cause analysis, and structured problem-solving methods.
Coach, develop, and engage production employees and frontline leaders through clear expectations, regular feedback, training plans, skill development, and career growth discussions.
Use production, quality, inventory, labor, and schedule data to identify trends, prioritize actions, and communicate performance insights to stakeholders.
Work closely with Planning, Procurement, Quality, Logistics, Engineering, Technical Support, Customer Service, Product Data Management, and Commercial teams to align production priorities with customer and business needs.
Assess staffing, equipment, material availability, and process constraints to support short-term execution and long-term production capability.
Support accurate use of manufacturing systems, batch records, work instructions, production schedules, inventory transactions, and related documentation.