Inside Lighting · 3 days ago
Production Manager
Chicago, IL
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
2+ years expInside Lighting is seeking a Production Manager to oversee daily and weekly production activities across multiple assembly lines. The role involves identifying at-risk orders, developing production schedules, managing assembly operations, and providing leadership to production personnel to ensure quality and efficiency in meeting shipment targets.
Internet
Responsibilities
Proactively identify orders at risk of missing the committed ship date within the current production week
Communicate potential risks as early as possible to Sales and Customer Service to understand order context, customer expectations, and available options
Collaborate cross-functionally to evaluate mitigation strategies such as partial shipments, overtime, resequencing work, or expediting missing components
Maintain transparency on production constraints, bottlenecks, and recovery plans to support informed decision-making
Develop, maintain, and execute daily and weekly manual production schedules across multiple assembly lines
Allocate labor and resources based on order priority, capacity, run rates, and material availability
Adjust schedules in real time to address changing priorities, labor constraints, quality issues, or material shortages
Ensure weekly production schedules are completed, and monthly shipment targets are met
Oversee day-to-day assembly operations across three production lines to ensure work is performed safely, efficiently, and in accordance with quality standards
Spend significant time on the production floor providing hands-on leadership, troubleshooting issues, and supporting employees in meeting daily production goals
Identify production bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and quality concerns; implement corrective actions and escalate systemic issues as needed
Obtain, maintain, and analyze run rates for baseline reporting and continuous improvement
Minimize downtime, indirect labor hours, and rework
Directly supervise fewer than 20 production and assembly employees
Foster employee growth through hands-on coaching, informal feedback, and formal performance reviews
Leverage veteran employees as informal leaders and contributors to decision-making, with an eye toward developing future production or line lead roles
Organize and distribute work instructions and workflows to production staff
Review employee performance, productivity, and efficiency; identify training and development needs
Maintain awareness of employee skill sets and cross-training levels to support effective labor allocation
Issue corrective actions when necessary and uphold accountability standards
Approve production personnel PTO requests and coordinate coverage to maintain production commitments
Supervise, motivate, and support production and assembly personnel
Organize and distribute work instructions and workflows to production staff
Review employee performance, productivity, and efficiency; identify training and development needs
Provide hands-on guidance and problem-solving support on the production floor as needed
Liaise with Engineering, Purchasing, Inventory, and Quality to ensure materials, documentation, and resources are available to support the production schedule
Communicate production status, risks, and constraints to upper management
Support implementation of lean manufacturing concepts and continuous improvement initiatives
Ensure all products are produced in compliance with Kurtzon quality standards
Promote and enforce a safe, clean, and organized work environment
Support quality investigations and corrective actions related to production issues
Perform other related duties as assigned by management
Qualification
Required
Two to five years of experience in a production, manufacturing, or assembly leadership role
Demonstrated experience with manual production scheduling and labor planning
Working knowledge of manufacturing processes, assembly operations, and production workflows
Strong organizational and problem-solving skills
Proficiency with MRP/ERP systems and Microsoft Office Suite
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision while managing shifting priorities
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Company
Inside Lighting
Inside Lighting is North America’s most visited media site for lighting industry news and analysis.
2-10 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageCompany data provided by crunchbase