Operations Manager
ALIGN PRECISION – Clearwater, Florida
Position Summary
ALIGN PRECISION is seeking an exceptional Operations Manager to lead manufacturing operations at our beautiful Clearwater, Florida facility. This is a high-impact leadership role for a proven manufacturing professional who combines deep technical expertise in CNC machining and engineering with outstanding people leadership skills.
The ideal candidate is a servant leader who thrives on developing high-performing teams, driving operational excellence, and creating a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and employee engagement. This individual will be responsible for ensuring world-class performance in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and workforce development while supporting the strategic growth of the business.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & People Development
- Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, team leads, machinists, programmers, engineers, and support staff.
- Foster a culture built on accountability, teamwork, respect, and continuous improvement.
- Establish clear performance expectations and provide regular feedback, coaching, and mentoring.
- Drive employee engagement, retention, succession planning, and leadership development initiatives.
- Promote a positive, safety-first work environment where employees can perform at their highest level.
- Partner closely with Human Resources on recruiting, training, performance management, and workforce planning.
Manufacturing Operations
- Direct daily operations across CNC machining, production, scheduling, quality, maintenance, and manufacturing support functions.
- Ensure on-time delivery while maintaining the highest standards of quality and operational efficiency.
- Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and implement corrective actions to achieve operational objectives.
- Optimize labor utilization, machine capacity, workflow, and resource allocation.
- Lead cross-functional efforts to eliminate bottlenecks and improve throughput.
Engineering & Technical Leadership
- Collaborate with Manufacturing Engineering and Quality teams to improve processes and production performance.
- Apply strong knowledge of CNC machining, programming, tooling, fixturing, and manufacturing best practices.
- Support new product introductions, process development, and manufacturing readiness initiatives.
- Drive technical problem-solving activities utilizing root cause analysis and corrective action methodologies.
Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement
- Champion Lean Manufacturing principles throughout the organization.
- Lead Kaizen events, value stream mapping, 5S initiatives, visual management programs, and waste reduction efforts.
- Develop and execute continuous improvement projects focused on productivity, quality, safety, and cost reduction.
- Establish a culture where continuous improvement is embedded into daily operations.
Business Performance
- Manage operational budgets and support achievement of financial objectives.
- Analyze operational data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
- Develop action plans that improve profitability while maintaining exceptional customer satisfaction.
- Support strategic planning and long-term growth initiatives.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, or related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
- 10+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
- Significant experience in CNC machining and precision manufacturing environments.
- Demonstrated success leading large production teams in a high-performance manufacturing setting.
- Strong understanding of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Proven ability to build, develop, and retain high-performing teams.
- Excellent communication, leadership, coaching, and conflict-resolution skills.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
Preferred
- Experience within aerospace, defense, medical device, or other highly regulated manufacturing industries.
- Lean Six Sigma certification.
- Experience with ERP/MRP systems and advanced manufacturing technologies.
- Multi-site manufacturing leadership experience.
What Success Looks Like
The successful Operations Manager will:
- Build a culture where employees are engaged, empowered, and accountable.
- Develop future leaders and strengthen organizational capability.
- Improve safety, quality, delivery, and productivity performance year over year.
- Drive Lean initiatives that create measurable business results.
- Establish ALIGN PRECISION's Clearwater facility as a benchmark operation recognized for operational excellence and employee engagement.
Why ALIGN PRECISION?
At ALIGN PRECISION, we believe our people are our greatest competitive advantage. Our Clearwater facility offers an opportunity to work with advanced manufacturing technologies, talented professionals, and a leadership team committed to growth, innovation, and continuous improvement. This is a career-defining opportunity for a manufacturing leader who is passionate about developing people, improving processes, and delivering world-class results.
If you are a driven manufacturing leader with a passion for CNC machining, engineering excellence, Lean transformation, and people development, we invite you to join ALIGN PRECISION and help shape the future of our Clearwater operation.