Production Manager

About the Role

Focused on Machining is a growing precision CNC manufacturing company looking for an experienced Production Manager to take full ownership of our internal shop operations. This is a high-trust, high-autonomy role for someone who thrives on keeping a complex operation running smoothly — without needing to be told what to do next.

This role is internally focused. You are not customer-facing. Your job is to make sure the right work is happening in the right order, the team has what they need to execute, and nothing falls through the cracks. Customer communication runs through our President and Office Manager — your lane is everything that happens inside these walls.

What You'll Own

Shop Floor Leadership (20–35% of your time)

You will spend meaningful time on the floor — not running machines, but leading the people who do. This means helping machinists work through setups and job planning, removing obstacles, and making sure priorities are clear and work is moving. You lead by presence and credibility, not by title.

Work directly with machinists to plan jobs, troubleshoot setups, and keep production moving.

Make real-time priority and scheduling decisions on the floor without waiting for direction.

Be the person the team looks to when something isn't clear or something goes wrong.

Office & Operations (65–80% of your time)

The majority of your time is spent managing the systems and information that keep the shop running — scheduling, tooling, estimating input, and process documentation.

Own and maintain the production schedule in ProShop ERP — build it, adjust it, and defend it.

Manage tooling procurement and vendor relationships; buy from whoever gives us the best value for what we need.

Drive the internal estimating process — work with machinists to determine how we'll make a part, get time estimates, determine tooling needs, and enter manufacturing inputs into our quoting software. The President reviews and sends to the customer.

Write and maintain manufacturing procedures and work instructions that improve consistency on the floor.

Coordinate with leadership on personnel — your input on hiring decisions and on underperforming team members carries real weight.

Authority & Structure

We are a small, tight-knit team. This role does not currently have formal direct reports, but it carries full operational authority over the shop floor. You make the calls on scheduling, priorities, and tooling — those decisions are yours, and we expect you to make them without checking in.

You will also have significant input on personnel decisions. As we grow toward 20 employees, this role will naturally develop into one with formal direct reports. We are looking for someone who wants to grow into that.

Customer communication is handled by the President and Office Manager. If there is a floor issue that affects a customer, your job is to surface it to leadership quickly and accurately — not to manage the customer relationship directly.

What We're Looking For

Experience & Skills

Background in manufacturing or machining — you need to understand what happens on the floor, but this is a management role, not a machinist role.

Proven ability to manage people and operations, formally or informally.

Experience with ERP or shop management software; ProShop experience is a plus.

Ability to read technical drawings and understand manufacturing processes well enough to support estimating and planning.

Familiarity with tooling is useful; vendor relationships and procurement experience is a plus.

Who Thrives Here

This role touches a high volume of information every day — jobs, schedules, people, tooling, priorities, and problems — all at once. The people who have succeeded in roles like this share a few traits:

Highly organized — you have a system, you work it, and things don't fall through the cracks.

Calm under pressure — when priorities shift or something goes sideways, you adjust without creating chaos.

A natural leader — people follow your direction because you've earned it, not because of a job title.

Self-directed — you know what needs to happen and you make it happen without being managed.

Steady communicator — you keep leadership and the team informed without drama or noise.

This Role Is Probably Not for You If…

You are a skilled machinist looking to move into an office role — we need someone who manages machinists, not someone who wants to become one.

You need a formal org chart to feel like you have authority.

You want significant customer interaction — this role is internally focused by design.

High-pressure, high-information environments overwhelm you.