Sr. Manufacturing Contract Recruiter

Location: Flexible - Remote, Hybrid, or Onsite

Travel: Periodic travel to UPF manufacturing locations Employment

Type: Contract

Help Build the Workforce Behind American Manufacturing United Plastic Fabricating (UPF) is seeking an experienced Manufacturing Recruiter to support hiring across our growing, multi-site manufacturing organization.

In this high-impact contract role, you will partner directly with plant leaders and hiring managers to recruit hourly production employees, skilled trades professionals, engineers, maintenance technicians, production supervisors, and other critical manufacturing talent.

We are looking for a proactive, full-cycle recruiter who understands manufacturing, knows how to find difficult-to-reach candidates, and can move hiring processes forward with urgency, organization, and sound judgment.

This is an excellent opportunity for a recruiter who enjoys solving complex hiring challenges, building trusted relationships with operational leaders, and making a visible impact within a growing manufacturing company. 

What You’ll Do

• Manage full-cycle recruiting from requisition intake through offer acceptance and onboarding coordination.
• Partner with hiring managers and plant leadership to understand staffing needs, hiring priorities, and position requirements.
• Recruit for hourly production, skilled trades, engineering, maintenance, manufacturing leadership, and professional positions.
• Build proactive candidate pipelines for recurring and difficult-to-fill manufacturing roles.
• Source candidates through Indeed, LinkedIn Recruiter, direct outreach, referrals, networking, trade schools, community partnerships, job fairs, and other creative channels.
• Review resumes, conduct phone interviews, and assess candidates for technical qualifications, reliability, coachability, safety mindset, and overall fit.
• Present qualified candidates with clear interview recommendations and assessment notes.
• Coordinate interviews, gather hiring manager feedback, and maintain momentum throughout the hiring process.
• Provide timely, professional communication to candidates at every stage.
• Coordinate background checks, employment verifications, drug screenings, and other pre-employment requirements.
• Maintain accurate applicant tracking system records and recruiting documentation.
• Track recruiting activity, pipeline health, time-to-fill, offer acceptance, source effectiveness, and other key hiring metrics.
• Identify recruiting bottlenecks and recommend improvements that increase hiring speed and candidate quality.
• Monitor local labor markets, wage trends, competitor hiring activity, and talent availability.
• Support recruiting events, workforce development partnerships, and employer-branding initiatives as needed.
• Ensure recruiting practices comply with federal, state, and local employment laws.

Positions You May Recruit

• Production Associates
• Plastic Fabricators
• CNC Machinists
• Maintenance Technicians
• Manufacturing Engineers
• Quality Engineers
• Process Engineers
• Production Supervisors
• Operations Leaders
• Supply Chain and Planning Professionals
• Administrative and Professional Support Roles 

 What We’re Looking For

• 3–5 years of full-cycle recruiting experience.
• Experience recruiting within manufacturing, industrial operations, skilled trades, engineering, or technical production environments.
• Proven success recruiting both hourly employees and salaried professionals.
• Strong sourcing skills using Indeed, LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, referrals, networking, direct outreach, and other recruiting tools.
• Ability to manage multiple open positions and shifting priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong interviewing, candidate assessment, and hiring manager partnership skills.
• Excellent communication, organization, follow-through, and time management.
• Experience using applicant tracking systems and maintaining accurate recruiting data.
• Knowledge of employment laws, compliant hiring practices, and pre-employment screening processes. 

Preferred Experience 

• Recruiting for multi-site manufacturing operations.
• Recruiting CNC machinists, maintenance technicians, engineers, production supervisors, skilled trades professionals, or manufacturing leaders.
• Supporting high-volume hourly hiring.
• Building partnerships with technical schools, workforce development organizations, and community recruiting resources.
• SHRM, HRCI, AIRS, or related recruiting certification.

What Success Looks LikeYou will be successful in this role by:

• Building strong, trusted relationships with hiring managers.
• Developing consistent talent pipelines for priority manufacturing positions.
• Reducing time-to-fill without sacrificing candidate quality.
• Keeping candidates and hiring managers informed throughout the process.
• Improving recruiting efficiency and identifying process bottlenecks.
• Delivering clear, regular recruiting updates and hiring metrics.
• Strengthening UPF’s reputation within the manufacturing talent market.
• Helping UPF hire dependable, safety-minded, technically capable employees who can contribute to long-term operational success.