Manager, Suspension Manufacturing

Summary:

The Manager, Suspension Manufacturing leads day-to-day production operations for their area of the plant, overseeing shift and team leads as well as production associates to drive output, quality, and safety results. This is a mid-level operations leadership role requiring strong people-management experience, sound judgment, and the ability to keep a department running efficiently in a fast-paced manufacturing environment. The ideal candidate combines hands-on shop floor credibility with the leadership skills needed to manage teams, uphold quality standards, and support continuous improvement across ICON's suspension systems and off-road performance product lines.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Own daily, weekly, and monthly production planning to meet demand forecasts and customer delivery commitments
• Manage workflow and staffing across multiple production lines/cells, and training employees to reallocate labor and resources in real time to hit targets
• Set and monitor Overall Equipment Effectiveness, throughput, scrap rate, and on-time-delivery metrics; report performance to leadership
• In conjunction with Engineering, drive root-cause analysis on production shortfalls, quality escapes, and downtime events, and implement corrective actions
• Partner with supply chain and materials planning to prevent stockouts and manage WIP levels
• Coordinate maintenance schedules with the facilities/maintenance team to minimize unplanned downtime
• Directly supervise shift leads, team leads, and production associates. Set expectations and assist in achieving them.
• Recruit, hire, onboard, and train shop floor staff in partnership with HR
• Conduct performance reviews, manage disciplinary actions, and handle employee relations issues in partnership with HR
• Build training and cross-skilling programs to increase workforce flexibility and reduce single points of failure
• Ensure all products meet ICON's quality specifications and enforce inspection/QC checkpoints throughout production
• Own safety performance for the department: enforce OSHA compliance, lead incident investigations, and drive corrective/preventive actions
• Conduct regular safety audits and toolbox talks; champion a proactive safety culture
• Lead lean manufacturing initiatives (5S, kaizen, value stream mapping) to reduce waste and improve efficiency
• Identify and lead capital or process improvement projects, building business cases with ROI justification
• In partnership with HR, standardize work instructions and best practices across shifts
• Partner with Engineering on new product introductions (NPI) and manufacturability feedback
• Work with Quality Assurance on non-conformance resolution and process audits
• Collaborate with Planning/Scheduling to align capacity with sales demand
• Represent the shop floor perspective in leadership and operations meetings

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing operations, including at least 2–3 years in a supervisory or management role
• Demonstrated experience managing teams of 40+ employees
• Experience managing production budgets, labor planning, and cost control, with a focus on throughput, cycle times, parts per person, scrap and rework.
• Six Sigma Green Belt or Lean certification

Knowledge and Personal Attributes:

• Strong working knowledge of lean manufacturing principles (5S, kaizen, Six Sigma, or similar)
• Solid understanding of OSHA regulations and manufacturing safety standards
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret production data and KPIs to drive decisions
• Excellent communication skills, with experience presenting to senior leadership
• Sound judgment and composure under pressure, especially when balancing competing production priorities
• Hands-on, floor-present leadership style paired with the discipline to manage budgets and metrics
• High accountability and follow-through; comfortable owning outcomes rather than deflecting them
• Ability to coach and develop others, building bench strength across the team
• Physically able to stand, walk, and move throughout the shop floor for extended periods (up to full shift), and lift up to 50 lbs occasionally
• Comfortable working in a manufacturing environment with exposure to noise, machinery, and varying temperatures
• Willingness to work flexible hours, including occasional evenings/weekends, to support production needs or shift coverage