Production Manager – 2nd Shift
Location: Vernon Hills, IL
Hire Type: Direct Hire
Shift: 2nd Shift – Monday–Friday
Training: 3–6 weeks on 1st Shift before transitioning to 2nd Shift
Compensation: $115k-$120k base salary + 10% shift differential + 10% anual bonus
Expected 2nd Shift W-2: $140k+
Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced Production Manager to lead a large-scale manufacturing operation on 2nd Shift. This position will oversee approximately 400 employees across six production lines, each supported by its own Production Supervisor.
This is an established manufacturing operation with the equipment, processes, and production infrastructure already in place. The primary focus of the role is to improve the efficiency, reliability, consistency, and overall performance of 2nd Shift .
The Production Manager will lead through a team of six supervisors, establish clear expectations and accountability, identify production constraints and inefficiencies, and work cross-functionally to eliminate barriers to performance. This is a highly visible, hands-on leadership role requiring a strong presence on the manufacturing floor and the ability to make sound operational decisions throughout the shift.
The successful candidate will spend approximately 3–6 weeks training on 1st Shift to learn the operation, build relationships, understand current processes and performance expectations, and prepare for a successful transition to 2nd Shift.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide overall leadership and operational direction for 2nd Shift manufacturing operations supporting approximately 400 employees.
- Directly lead and develop six Production Supervisors, ensuring consistent leadership and accountability across all production lines.
- Drive improvements in 2nd Shift efficiency, productivity, reliability, labor utilization, and overall production performance.
- Establish clear expectations and performance standards for supervisors and frontline leadership.
- Maintain a highly visible presence on the production floor and actively engage with supervisors and production teams.
- Monitor daily production performance against schedules, output goals, labor requirements, quality expectations, and customer demand.
- Identify bottlenecks, downtime, staffing challenges, equipment issues, process inefficiencies, and other barriers to production.
- Lead structured problem-solving and root-cause analysis to address recurring production issues and improve reliability.
- Review production KPIs and develop corrective actions when performance falls below expectations.
- Improve consistency between production lines and ensure best practices are effectively implemented across the operation.
- Optimize staffing and labor utilization based on production requirements and changing priorities.
- Coach and develop Production Supervisors, helping them strengthen their leadership, communication, problem-solving, and accountability skills.
- Build a culture of ownership, accountability, safety, quality, and continuous improvement.
- Partner closely with Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, HR, and other functional teams to resolve operational issues and improve performance.
- Strengthen communication and handoffs between 1st and 2nd Shift to ensure continuity and consistent execution.
- Support employee engagement, retention, and development initiatives across the 2nd Shift workforce.
- Ensure compliance with company policies, safety requirements, quality systems, and established manufacturing procedures.
- Operate with a high degree of autonomy during 2nd Shift and make timely operational decisions with limited senior leadership presence.
- Communicate shift performance, issues, and improvement initiatives to plant leadership.
What We're Looking For
- 7+ years of progressive manufacturing or production leadership experience.
- Demonstrated experience managing large-scale manufacturing operations and teams.
- Experience managing through supervisors and frontline leaders rather than directly managing the majority of employees.
- Experience leading multiple production lines, departments, or manufacturing areas simultaneously.
- Strong background in production management, labor utilization, scheduling, productivity, and operational execution.
- Proven ability to improve manufacturing efficiency, reliability, and production performance.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing KPIs and using data to identify and address performance gaps.
- Experience with root-cause problem solving and continuous improvement.
- Strong floor leadership presence with the ability to build credibility and accountability throughout a large organization.
- Experience working cross-functionally with Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, and HR.
- Strong communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and conflict-resolution skills.
- Ability to work independently and make effective operational decisions with limited senior leadership oversight.
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing, Business, or a related field preferred.
- Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, or operational excellence experience strongly preferred.
- High-volume manufacturing experience preferred; medical device experience is not required.