Manufacturing Manager

Adept Life Sciences is a strategic supplement manufacturer trusted by fast-growing brands that demand innovation, speed to market, and uncompromising quality. From formulation and sourcing to manufacturing and scale, we help brands launch faster and grow with confidence.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Manufacturing Manager leads both the operations and production sides of manufacturing at Adept Life Sciences, making sure products are produced safely, efficiently, on schedule, and to the highest quality standards. This role sets the strategic direction for the department, turning business goals into capacity, staffing, and improvement plans, and builds the people and systems behind it: hiring the team, developing and overseeing training, and creating the work instructions that define how the work gets done. The Manufacturing Manager drives a culture of operational excellence built on Lean manufacturing, 5S, and Six Sigma principles, and partners closely with Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, R&D, HR, and Sales. We welcome candidates from a wide range of manufacturing backgrounds, including food, consumer products, pharmaceutical, medical device, chemical, and general or discrete manufacturing.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

Strategic Planning & Operational Leadership

•     Develop and carry out the short- and long-term production strategy, aligning capacity, staffing, equipment, and capital investments with company growth plans and sales forecasts.

•     Lead annual operating plans, production budgets, and capacity models, and present recommendations to executive leadership.

•     Set departmental goals and KPIs that support company objectives, and cascade them into clear targets for supervisors and teams.

•     Evaluate automation, facility layout, and make-versus-buy opportunities, and build business cases for capital projects.

Production Planning & Execution

•     Plan, schedule, and direct daily manufacturing and packaging operations to meet customer orders and delivery commitments.

•     Translate the master production schedule into shift-level plans, balancing labor, equipment capacity, and material availability.

•     Monitor production in real time and adjust priorities, staffing, and line assignments to resolve bottlenecks and keep orders on track.

Lean Manufacturing, 5S & Continuous Improvement

•     Champion a Lean operating system, applying tools such as value stream mapping, standard work, SMED/quick changeover, kanban and pull systems, visual management, and Gemba walks.

•     Establish and sustain a 5S program across all production areas, including regular audits, scoring, and accountability.

•     Lead Six Sigma and DMAIC projects that reduce variation, defects, scrap, and rework, using statistical process control and data analysis.

•     Run kaizen events and daily tiered huddles that engage frontline employees in solving problems and making improvements.

•     Establish and track production KPIs, including OEE, schedule attainment, yield, throughput, labor efficiency, scrap, cost per unit, and right-first-time quality.

Quality & Regulatory Compliance

•     Ensure all production activities comply with company SOPs, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and applicable regulatory and customer requirements (e.g., FDA 21 CFR Part 111, ISO 9001, or industry equivalents).

•     Ensure production records are completed accurately and on time, following good documentation practices.

•     Partner with Quality to investigate deviations, nonconformances, and customer complaints, and lead root-cause analysis and CAPA within Production.

•     Maintain audit readiness on the production floor and represent Production during regulatory, third-party, and customer audits.

Hiring & Team Leadership

•     Oversee hiring for the manufacturing department, including workforce planning, writing job requirements, interviewing, selecting candidates, and onboarding, in partnership with HR.

•     Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, lead operators, and manufacturing and packaging staff across all shifts.

•     Build a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement, including succession planning and cross-training.

•     Set clear performance expectations, conduct performance reviews, and address performance and conduct issues in partnership with HR.

•     Plan staffing levels, shift coverage, overtime, and temporary labor to meet demand while controlling labor cost.

Training Program & Training Matrix

•     Develop and maintain a department training matrix that maps required skills, SOPs, equipment, and certifications to each role and tracks every employee's qualification status.

•     Oversee new-hire and ongoing training, including on-the-job training, trainer qualification, competency sign-offs, and refresher training.

•     Identify skill gaps through the training matrix and performance data, and build cross-training plans that strengthen flexibility and coverage.

•     Ensure training records are complete, current, and audit-ready.

Work Instructions & Standard Work

•     Develop, write, and maintain clear production work instructions, standard work, and visual job aids for manufacturing, packaging, setup, changeover, and cleaning.

•     Partner with Quality and Engineering to align work instructions with SOPs, the document control system, and regulatory requirements.

•     Review and update work instructions when processes, equipment, or products change, and make sure changes are trained on before they go into effect.

Equipment, Materials & Cost Control

•     Partner with Maintenance on preventive maintenance, TPM, and equipment reliability to minimize unplanned downtime.

•     Support the specification, installation, and startup of new equipment, lines, and processes, including validation and operator training.

•     Work with Supply Chain to ensure materials are available to support the schedule and that ERP/MRP transactions are accurate and timely.

•     Manage the manufacturing department budget and identify cost-saving opportunities in material yield, labor utilization, and process efficiency.

Safety & Work Environment

•     Promote a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with OSHA requirements, including PPE, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, and chemical handling.

•     Investigate safety incidents and near misses, and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

EDUCATION

•     Bachelor's degree in operations management, industrial or manufacturing engineering, business, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and directly related experience will be considered.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE (PREFERRED)

•     Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification preferred.

•     Formal Lean manufacturing training or certification (e.g., Lean Practitioner, Lean Six Sigma) preferred.

•     Experience in a GMP-regulated or quality-driven environment (nutraceutical, food, pharmaceutical, medical device, cosmetics, or similar) preferred.

•     MBA or APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM or CSCP) preferred.

•     Experience with ERP/MRP systems, and with launching new lines or scaling up production, preferred.

•     Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

•     Five years or more of manufacturing experience, including at least three years in a production supervisory or management role.

•     Proven track record of implementing Lean manufacturing, 5S, and continuous-improvement programs with measurable results.

•     Working knowledge of Six Sigma methods, root-cause analysis, statistical process control, and CAPA.

•     Strategic planning skills, with experience building capacity plans, budgets, and business cases.

•     Experience building training programs and training matrices, and writing clear work instructions and standard work.

•     Proven ability to hire, train, lead, and develop multi-shift manufacturing teams.

•     Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to turn data into decisions and manage competing priorities.

•     Excellent written and verbal communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

•     Proficiency with MS Office (especially Excel) and comfort using ERP and production reporting systems.

•     Strong commitment to safety, quality, and attention to detail.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

•     Regularly involves standing, walking, and moving throughout the production floor and facility for extended periods.

•     Frequently involves talking or listening, and the use of hands and fingers to handle, feel, or operate objects, tools, or controls.

•     Occasionally involves climbing stairs or ladders, stooping, kneeling, crouching, and reaching with hands and arms.

•     Must be able to occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.

•     Specific vision abilities required may include near acuity, far acuity, depth perception, accommodation, color vision, and field of vision.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

•     Primarily a manufacturing and production floor environment, with periodic time in an office setting.

•     Required to wear protective gear, i.e. hairnets, beard covers, safety glasses, gloves, gowns, hearing protection, and dust masks, when on the production floor.

•     Exposure to moderate to loud noise, airborne dust, moving mechanical equipment, and varying temperatures.

•     Involves moderate physical activity in support of hands-on production, equipment, and floor oversight.