Design Fabrication Manager Jobs (NOW HIRING)

The Pre-Fabrication Manager is responsible for building and leading a new department overseeing fabrication, assembly, kitting, packaging, and production. The role requires someone who can operate at both levels: designing the department's operational structure, workflows, quality program, and performance standards, while also being willing to step onto the production floor for extended periods of time to work on opportunities directly as the department scales.

The role owns the department's strategy and performance end-to-end, partnering closely with Sales, Purchasing, and Operations leadership to keep pre-fabrication capacity aligned with the growing business. The Pre-Fabrication Manager also leads the Fabrication & Assembly Leader, who directly supervises the production team, giving this role direct influence over how the department is staffed and developed as it expands, with the opportunity to grow the scope of the role as the department and the business scale together.

Primary Duties:

Department Leadership & Strategy

• Design and implement the operational structure, workflows, and standards for the pre-fabrication department.
• Partner with Sales, Purchasing, and Operations leadership to align prefabrication capacity with demand.
• Establish and track department KPIs, including throughput, on-time completion, scrap rate, cost per unit, and other performance metrics.
• Own job-level performance, including quoted vs. actual labor, margin, and profitability.
• Collaborate with Operations leadership to develop department budgets, implement cost-saving accountability, and determine capex inputs.

Fabrication & Assembly Oversight

• Oversee all fabrication and assembly operations, ensuring output meets quality, safety, and delivery standards.
• Establish and maintain standard work procedures and work instructions for fabrication and assembly processes.
• Evaluate and recommend equipment, tooling, and layout needs as the department scales.

Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement

• Build and own the department's quality control program, including first-article, in-process, and final inspection procedures for fabricated and assembled parts.
• Own root-cause analysis and corrective action for quality escapes and customer-reported defects, ensuring compliance with applicable industry, customer, and regulatory specifications.
• Establish a continuous improvement cadence for the department, leading improvement events across fabrication, assembly, kitting, and packaging, and benchmark performance against industry standards to set targets.
• Build a mechanism for team members and the Fabrication & Assembly Leader to surface and track process improvement ideas through implementation.

Scheduling & Capacity Planning

• Build and maintain the master production schedule across fabrication, assembly, and kitting.
• Manage capacity planning and prioritization when demand exceeds throughput.
• Communicate schedule changes and constraints proactively to internal stakeholders.

Kitting & Packaging

• Own kitting process design — how components are pulled, staged, and packaged for production and customer orders.
• Develop packaging strategy for fabricated & kitted products and work with Fabrication & Assembly Leader to execute.

People Leadership

• Directly manage the Fabrication & Assembly Leader — set goals, coach performance, conduct reviews.
• Ensure the Fabrication & Assembly Leader is effectively supervising, training, and developing team members, including on quality standards and inspection procedures.
• Build the department's organizational structure and staffing plan as volume grows.
• Model and enforce safety standards and company policy across the department.

• 8–10 years in manufacturing, fabrication, or production operations, with 5+ years in a leadership capacity.
• Demonstrated quality assurance/quality control experience — building or running inspection processes, root-cause analysis, or working within a formal quality system (e.g., ISO 9001).
• Experience developing operational strategies aligned with organizational goals.
• Experience building KPIs and metrics to measure and monitor department performance.
• Continuous improvement mindset, with experience applying Lean tools and methodologies.
• Strong scheduling and capacity-planning skills; NetSuite experience a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to manage through a layer (leading a leader, not just individual contributors) preferred.
• Strong communication skills — this role bridges the production floor and cross-functional leadership.
• Working knowledge of safety standards and practices in a manufacturing/production environment.
• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time to other Packer Fastener locations.
• Must have a valid driver’s license and acceptable driving record. Must be able to obtain coverage through the company’s auto insurance carrier according to the company Driver Safety Policy.