IEM, (Industrial Electric Manufacturing, Inc.) is the largest independent full-line manufacturing of custom electrical distribution and power quality equipment in North America. IEM has delivered customer-specific solutions to meet the ever-changing power requirements of growth industries in Noth America for over half a century. This position offers an exciting opportunity within an innovative, employee-oriented company.

PURPOSE OF POSITION:

IEM has experienced rapid and sustained growth over the past several years. As part of this expansion, we are seeking a Senior Operations Manager - Fabrication to provide strategic oversight of all fabrication and paint operations at our Jacksonville facilities to ensure on-time start, optimized capacity utilization across several different plants and to meet business objectives. We are looking for a Senior Operations Manager with knowledge and experience of fabrication in high volume/high mix, vertically integrated manufacturing operations. IEM has seen a tremendous amount of growth, particularly over the last few years, and will continue on this growth curve. We are looking for someone who has experience in a high growth environment to help scale the organization.

The ideal candidate will bring a combination of fabrication expertise, operational leadership, and a continuous improvement mindset to drive safety, quality, efficiency, and cross-functional collaboration. This position will report to the Director of Manufacturing and will serve as a key driver of operational success, supporting all product lines and facility initiatives.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Oversee the fabrication and paint departments across Jacksonville facilities, ensuring all fabricated and purchased parts are delivered per production schedules and project timelines.
• Manage and balance capacity between Jacksonville fabrication assets, optimizing throughput and on-time delivery across Jax 1 and Jax 2.
• Collaborate with planning, engineering, procurement, quality, and production teams to coordinate part flow and resolve supply or design issues quickly.
• Lead a team of supervisors, team leads, and specialists to ensure safe, timely, and efficient execution of daily fabrication operations.
• Foster a culture of safety and compliance; address physical safety issues and build employee ownership of safe practices.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives related to throughput, inventory management, takt alignment, labor utilization, and machine uptime.
• Minimize waste, WIP, and lead times by improving material and information flow from raw stock to staged part kits.
• Integrate purchased parts into fabrication flow and ensure all kits are released complete, with clear communication to stakeholders.
• Maintain and improve equipment health by partnering with maintenance to drive preventive maintenance execution and support capital planning.
• Ensure accountability within the team by setting clear KPIs and performance expectations; develop frontline leadership bench strength.
• Support quality by using data to address non-conformances and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Promote lean manufacturing principles, visual management, and standard work adoption throughout fabrication and paint operations.
• Maintain detailed performance metrics to monitor throughput, yield, labor productivity, and equipment effectiveness.
• Partner with other facility and operations leaders to align schedules, manage constraints, and support IEM's strategic growth plans.

SUPERVISION OF PERSONNEL:

• Fabrication Value Stream Managers

COMPETENCIES:

• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust, engage employees, and manage change
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work across departments to drive shared outcomes.
• Hands-on and proactive leadership style, comfortable balancing strategic decision-making with direct operational oversight and bias for action and accountability.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and data-driven decision-making experience required.
• Proactive change agent who thrives in a scaling business and has successfully led process transformations in high-growth environments.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, Operations Management, or a related field preferred. CPIM or other relevant certifications a plus.
• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in manufacturing or operations, with 3+ years in a fabrication or machining leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience in a vertically integrated manufacturing environment with cross-functional collaboration with a strong understanding of fabrication processes including CNC cutting, punching, bending, welding, grinding, painting, and material flow.
• Experience working in a high-mix, high-volume environment strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to manage large teams (75+ employees) with direct and matrixed reports.