Production/Manufacturing Leader (Value Stream Leader)

Ace Metal CraftsBensenville, IL
Onsite

About The Position

At ACE Metal Crafts, the work is technical, hands-on, and deeply collaborative. We build stainless steel fabrications, machined components, and assemblies for OEM customers in the food processing, food packaging, pharmaceutical, and environmental industries, work that demands precision, consistency, and trust. Inside ACE, the work moves quickly. Teams solve problems together, share knowledge openly, and take pride in building quality products our customers can depend on. Just as important as the work is the way the work gets done, with respect for people, pride in craftsmanship, and a shared commitment to doing things the right way. If you take pride in leading people, improving flow, and helping teams succeed together, ACE is the kind of place where your work will matter. The Pacemaker Value Stream Leader is responsible for coordinating and driving the front-half operational flow of manufacturing to ensure the right work is released, prioritized, and processed at the right time to support overall shop throughput and customer commitments. This role oversees workflow from raw material receiving through front-half processing operations, ensuring materials, outside services, and supporting components are available and aligned to production priorities. The role works closely with engineering, scheduling, production, and other value stream leaders to ensure jobs are properly sequenced and released to support welding, grinding, and downstream operations.

Requirements

  • BS Degree in a manufacturing or business discipline
  • A minimum of 10 years manufacturing experience with responsibilities of inventory control, IT systems, quality management, purchasing, production control, and engineering
  • Knowledge of lean manufacturing processes
  • Blueprint reading
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Ability to prioritize and multi-task
  • Emotionally intelligent people skills

Nice To Haves

  • Metal fabrication knowledge preferred

Responsibilities

  • Managing production flow and release strategy within the Pacemaker Value Stream
  • Ensuring work released from Engineering aligns with shop capacity and production priorities
  • Coordinating material readiness and following up on shortages impacting FTT (kitting) operations
  • Communicating and driving priority alignment across departments
  • Pulling and sequencing work to maintain balanced shop loading and workflow stability
  • Collaborating with other Value Stream Leaders to support downstream operations and customer delivery performance
  • Driving continuous improvement in workflow, visibility, communication, and operational execution
  • Promote and model the values and behaviors that define ACE’s trust-based culture
  • Participate in ACE’s continuous improvement system including kaizen, problem solving, SOP’s, 5S, and safety audits
  • Use the ACE performance management system when team performance is not living ACE’s values or has poor job performance
  • Provide ongoing coaching and performance feedback to team members
  • Maintain daily communication with customers, engineers, and sales regarding current order status
  • Participate in daily production and shipping huddles with your co-leaders.
  • Participate in weekly L10 meetings
  • Always wear personal protective gear when in the plant
  • Participate in all required safety training and perform as trained
  • Speak up when you see something happening that is not safe
  • Make sure all value stream members are adhering to ACE safety policies
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