OEM Manufacturing Manager

Eaton's ES AMER ARS PDCAD division is currently seeking a OEM Manufacturing Manager. The position will be based at our facility in Arden, NC or remotely within the US.

The expected annual salary range for this role is $146000 - $215000 a year. This position is also eligible for a variable incentive program.

Please note the salary information shown above is a general guideline only. Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.

What you'll do:

The OEM Manufacturing Manager serves as the primary operational leader responsible for the performance of assigned third-party manufacturing partners and offshore company-owned manufacturing facilities. This is a newly created role designed to establish and lead a scalable OEM manufacturing organization in support of the company's continued growth and increasing reliance on third-party manufacturing partners. This position offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of the organization's outsourced manufacturing strategy while driving operational excellence across a diverse portfolio of manufacturing partners.

Unlike a traditional plant manager who directly manages production employees, this role manages manufacturing execution through external OEMs and global manufacturing partners, ensuring delivery, quality, cost, capacity, and operational excellence objectives are achieved.

The position directs a team of fuctional leaders that have accountability between the business and assigned manufacturing sites, driving supply continuity, manufacturing efficiency, quality improvements, logistics execution support, and customer satisfaction. The role requires extensive collaboration with Product Line and Sales Operations while maintaining daily engagement with partner manufacturing leadership teams.

Manufacturing Operations Leadership

• Own operational performance for assigned OEM and offshore manufacturing partners.
• Lead weekly and monthly operational reviews with manufacturing sites.
• Ensure production plans align with customer demand and business objectives.
• Drive schedule attainment, throughput, and production execution.
• Coordinate escalation management for supply interruptions and manufacturing constraints.
• Serve as the primary operational contact for assigned manufacturing facilities.

Supply Chain & Planning Support

• Partner with Supply Chain Planning to translate forecasts into executable production plans.
• Validate manufacturing capacity and support long-range capacity planning.
• Monitor inventory levels, production output, and backlog recovery plans.
• Lead mitigation efforts during shortages, material constraints, or demand fluctuations.
• Ensure appropriate safety stock and inventory strategies are maintained.

Quality Management

• Drive adherence to all quality requirements and standards.
• Partner with Supplier Quality teams to improve product quality and reliability.
• Lead root cause investigations for quality incidents.
• Monitor corrective and preventive action implementation.
• Support audits, supplier certifications, and compliance initiatives.

Key Responsibilities:

Manufacturing Efficiency & Continuous Improvement

• Drive productivity, throughput, and cost reduction initiatives.
• Implement Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement programs with assigned partners.
• Monitor manufacturing KPIs and identify improvement opportunities.
• Lead process optimization efforts to improve cycle time, yield, and labor efficiency.
• Support new product introductions and engineering change implementation.

Logistics & Customer Fulfillment

• Support direct-ship customer fulfillment execution.
• Collaborate with Logistics teams to improve delivery performance.
• Monitor shipment status and recovery plans for late orders.
• Ensure manufacturing sites meet lead-time and shipment commitments.
• Support transportation optimization initiatives.

Supplier & Partner Relationship Management

• Build strong relationships with manufacturing leadership teams.
• Conduct regular business reviews and performance evaluations.
• Establish accountability for operational performance.
• Manage escalation processes across multiple organizations.
• Support sourcing decisions, capacity expansion, and risk mitigation strategies.

Key Performance Indicators:

Performance Area | Primary KPIs

Delivery Performance | On-Time-Deliver (OTD); schedule attainment; customer lead-time adherence; backlog performance; shipment execution.

Supply Chain Performance | Fill rate; manufacturing plan adherence; inventory turns; capacity utilization; forecast compliance.

Quality Performance | Defective Parts Per Million (PPM); first pass yield; warranty claims; return rates; corrective action closure effectiveness.

Manufacturing Performance | Productivity improvements; labor efficiency; cycle time reduction; overall equipment effectiveness where applicable; cost reduction results.

Financial Performance | Manufacturing cost per unit; cost improvement savings; expedite cost reduction; inventory value management; gross margin support.

Leadership responsibilities

• Lead through influence in a matrix organization.
• Drive accountability across internal and external stakeholders.
• Escalate issues quickly with clear recovery plans.
• Foster a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement.
• Develop strategic relationships with supplier leadership teams.
• Ensure alignment between customer expectations and manufacturing capabilities.

Qualifications:

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution
• Minimum 7 years of manufacturing, operations, supply chain, or plant leadership experience required
• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Manufacturing from an accredited institution
• MBA or advanced technical / operations degree preferred.
• Experience managing OEMs, contract manufacturers, or global manufacturing operations preferred.
• Experience working with offshore manufacturing operations, particularly Asia-based facilities, preferred.
• Demonstrated success driving operational improvements and cost reduction initiatives.
• Strong experience managing cross-functional teams and supplier relationships.

All positions may require participation in video and in-person interviews as part of the hiring process. All candidates will be evaluated based on job-related competencies, and all candidates' privacy rights and data security will be protected in accordance with applicable laws.

We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for job applicants and employees. Our recruitment processes use balanced selection criteria and avoid unlawful discrimination against applicants on the basis of their age, colour, disability, marital status, national origin, gender, gender identity, genetic information, race or racial origin, religion, sexual orientation or any other status protected or required by law.