Operations Manager Chemical Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Our client is seeking an experienced, hands-on Operations Manager to lead a high-mix aerospace special-processing operation. This is a critical leadership role for an established manufacturing environment where the successful candidate will take ownership of production execution, planning, capacity, WIP, labor, quality, schedule adherence, and customer commitments.

The ideal leader will be comfortable on the shop floor, highly accountable, data-driven, and capable of developing supervisors while driving a culture of operational excellence.

• Lead daily production execution across hard chrome, cadmium, electroless nickel, chemical processing, NDT, masking, blasting, baking, inspection, and supporting operations.
• Translate customer demand, backlog, and due dates into realistic daily and weekly production schedules.
• Lead daily production meetings, establish priorities, communicate targets, and drive recovery actions.
• Identify schedule risks early and develop recovery plans to improve on-time delivery and schedule adherence.
• Develop capacity plans across work centers, equipment, tanks, ovens, NDT resources, and skilled labor.
• Identify bottlenecks and constraints to improve throughput and reduce lead times.
• Manage WIP, queue time, expedites, and changing priorities while maintaining production flow.
• Partner with Quality and Finance to improve first-pass yield, productivity, labor efficiency, overtime, rework, and cost performance.
• Develop and coach production supervisors through accountability, standard work, KPI ownership, and structured problem solving.
• Partner with Quality to maintain compliance with aerospace specifications, approved routings, Nadcap requirements, and customer requirements.
• Drive Lean initiatives including 5S, visual management, standard work, constraint management, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement.
• Utilize ERP/MRP, Excel, dashboards, and BI tools to manage production performance and operating KPIs.
• Provide capacity, lead-time, and resource input to support quoting and SIOP/planning decisions.
• Maintain a safe, compliant workplace and ensure operational and environmental requirements are consistently followed.

• 5+ years of progressive manufacturing operations experience, including 3+ years leading production teams in an aerospace environment.
• Experience in aerospace special processing, metal finishing, plating, heat treatment, NDT, precision machining, or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Proven success improving measurable operating results such as OTD, schedule adherence, throughput, lead time, first-pass yield, or labor efficiency.
• Strong knowledge of production planning, scheduling, finite capacity, bottleneck management, WIP control, and recovery planning.
• Experience working within AS9100 and/or Nadcap-controlled environments.
• Strong ERP/MRP and Excel skills with the ability to use data to drive daily operational decisions.
• Ability to lead from the shop floor, make timely decisions, hold teams accountable, and communicate effectively with employees, customers, and senior leadership.

• Direct leadership experience in aerospace plating or chemical processing.
• Lean Six Sigma, Lean Daily Management, or continuous improvement experience/certification.
• Experience with Power BI or similar business intelligence tools.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, or related field; equivalent industry experience will be considered.

Success in this role will be measured through:

• On-Time Delivery & Schedule Adherence
• Past-Due Backlog & Aging
• First-Pass Yield, Rework & Scrap
• Throughput & Lead-Time Reduction
• Labor Efficiency & Overtime
• WIP & Queue-Time Control
• Capacity Utilization & Constraint Performance
• Safety & Quality Compliance

The ideal candidate is a visible, decisive, data-driven, and accountable leader who knows how to move an operation from reactive management to disciplined execution. They understand how to identify risks early, remove constraints, communicate effectively, and develop supervisors who can consistently deliver results.