Manufacturing Learning and Development Manager

Position Overview

• A rapidly expanding manufacturing company with multiple sites is hiring a Manufacturing Learning & Development Manager to enhance workforce readiness, improve frontline leadership abilities, and ensure consistent operational execution across all plant locations.
• This role collaborates closely with Operations and aligns with leaders from Quality, Safety, Industrial Engineering, Continuous Improvement, and Human Resources departments.
• The main responsibility is to establish robust capability development systems that guarantee employees are properly trained, qualified, and capable of working safely and efficiently.
• This position goes beyond traditional classroom training; the ideal candidate possesses comprehensive knowledge of manufacturing operations and excels at developing personnel, coaching leadership, and reinforcing execution through hands-on, site-centered capability development.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with plant and operations leadership to identify skill and capability gaps.
• Design and enhance onboarding processes along with qualification, certification, and cross-training programs.
• Provide coaching to frontline leaders aimed at strengthening accountability and operational execution.
• Lead and mentor a small team focused on technical learning and workforce development.
• Standardize capability-building processes throughout multiple locations.
• Collaborate with various functional teams to support operational readiness and continuous improvement initiatives.

Success Indicators

• Staff are fully prepared and certified for their assigned roles.
• Leadership teams are proficient in coaching and managing team performance.
• Standardized processes enhance consistency across all sites.
• Cross-training efforts improve workforce adaptability.
• Operational discipline, readiness, and consistency are notably improved.

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Operations, Industrial Engineering, Business, Organizational Leadership, or a related discipline; or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 7 years of experience in manufacturing operations, workforce capability building, technical training, learning and development, continuous improvement, or operational excellence.
• Proven experience coaching frontline leaders within manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated ability in creating onboarding, qualification, certification, or workforce readiness training programs.
• Strong skills in facilitation, communication, leadership coaching, and problem-solving.
• Ability to influence and work collaboratively with cross-functional teams to drive change management.

• Preferred: Background in food manufacturing, high-volume production, or comparable industries.
• Experience managing a training, capability development, or workforce development team.
• Familiarity with Lean Manufacturing, Training Within Industry (TWI), Standard Work, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), or Continuous Improvement (CI) methodologies.
• Experience working in multi-site manufacturing settings.

Work Environment and Travel

• This role entails a mix of office work and time spent on the production floor, including frequent visits to manufacturing areas.
• Candidates must be comfortable operating in plant environments characterized by background noise, moderate temperature changes, and active production processes.
• Travel up to 50% is expected to support multiple manufacturing plants and coordinate with site leadership teams.