Overview

The Production Manager owns the staffing, performance management and procedural functions of the production department. This role is accountable for workforce staffing, performance management and discipline. This role also is responsible for the development and continuous improvement of production procedures. This is a hands-on leadership position that requires a balanced presence between the production floor and the office. The Production Manager is expected to spend significant time on the shop floor working directly with supervisors, leads and production teams, while also fulfilling the administrative responsibilities of the role, including planning, scheduling, reporting, documentation, and performance management.

Key Responsibilities

Staffing & Workforce Management

- Own the end-to-end staffing lifecycle for the production workforce, forecasting labor needs and leading recruiting, interviewing and hiring of production personnel in partnership with Human Resources.
- Manage headcount planning and shift coverage across production teams, ensuring the department is adequately and appropriately staffed.
- Ensure new hires are properly onboarded and integrated into their work cells.

Performance Management & Discipline

- Own the performance management process for the production workforce, including coaching, progressive discipline and Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs).
- Lead discipline decisions, workplace investigations and terminations in partnership with Human Resources, ensuring consistency and compliance with company policy and applicable employment standards legislation.
- Conduct and oversee performance reviews for the production workforce.
- Track attendance, conduct and performance issues, ensuring they are documented and addressed in a timely, consistent manner.

Production Oversight & Team Leadership

- Collaborate with Supervisor(s) to provide daily direction, coaching and support to production leads and teams.
- Ensure work is assigned effectively, materials are staged ahead of need and work cells are continuously fed with raw materials to meet the production schedule.
- Review production output, schedule attainment and labor efficiency, identifying and resolving operational barriers.
- Act as the primary point of escalation for day-to-day production issues.

Procedures & Continuous Improvement

- Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and work instructions for existing production processes in conjunction with Engineering.




- Review existing procedures against industry best practices and provide recommendations for improvements to quality, safety, throughput and cost.
- Translate process improvement and lean manufacturing initiatives into standard work at the production floor level.
- Ensure production staff are trained on new or updated procedures and that documentation is kept current and accessible.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

- Promote and reinforce a strong safety culture on the production floor, ensuring safety standards are upheld, training is completed and incidents are reported promptly.
- Generate and maintain safety procedures for the production floor and enforce compliance with established safety standards.
- Support quality objectives by ensuring staffing levels, training and procedures are sufficient to consistently meet product specifications and customer requirements.
- Ensure production department practices comply with applicable health and safety regulations, employment standards and internal company policy.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Reporting

- Serve as the primary day-to-day liaison between Production and other departments, including Quality, Maintenance, Supply Chain and Human Resources.
- Provide regular reporting on staffing levels, performance and discipline matters, production metrics and procedural updates.
- Provide feedback to Supply Chain to help prevent stock-outs of product.
- Support Engineering with larger operational initiatives, including facility relocation, work cell redesign and BOM development, by ensuring the production floor remains stable and staffed throughout periods of change.

Qualifications

Education

- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations, Industrial Management or a related field. An equivalent combination of education and relevant experience will be considered.

Experience

- Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in a manufacturing or production environment.
- Minimum 5-7 years in a supervisory or management role with direct people-management responsibility, including hiring, discipline and performance management.
- Demonstrated experience developing or improving SOPs,



work instructions or similar production documentation.
- Experience with lean manufacturing principles and continuous improvement methodologies preferred.
- Experience with ERP/MRP systems and Bill of Materials (BOM) structures considered an asset.
- Exposure to ISO 9001 documentation and procedure requirements considered a strong asset.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

- Strong knowledge of progressive discipline practices and performance improvement planning.
- Working knowledge of applicable provincial and federal employment standards legislation.
- Excellent leadership, coaching and conflict-resolution skills.
- Leads with a firm but approachable style, building trust and holding the team accountable through coaching and collaboration.
- Robust written communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, usable SOPs and work instructions.
- Ability to read and interpret production schedules, BOMs and work instructions.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Working Conditions / Physical Demands

- Role is based primarily on the manufacturing floor, combined with regular office-based administrative work.
- Required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) while on the production floor.
- May be exposed to typical manufacturing environment conditions, including noise, temperature variation and moving machinery.
- Occasional lifting may be required (up to 50 lbs (23 kg) per site guidelines).
- Standard shift is 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, with infrequent overtime as required.
- The department may expand to multiple shifts over time. The Manager's work schedule should be self-adjusted as necessary to ensure regular overlap with all production shifts, enabling consistent communication, visibility, and engagement with employees while building relationships, reinforcing expectations, and providing leadership presence across the operation.
- Flexibility to address staffing or production issues outside standard business hours as needed.

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. Duties and responsibilities may be modified at the discretion of the company.

Pay: From $70,000.00 per year

Benefits:

- Casual dress
- Company events
- Dental care
- On-site parking
- Profit sharing
- RRSP match
- Vision care

Work Location: In person

📌 Production Manager (Canada)
🏢 MERIK
📍 Canada