CNC Machining Operations Director

Location: Troy, MI

Employment Type: Full-Time, Direct Hire

Compensation: $100,000–$120,000 annually, commensurate with experience

A day in the life

Walk the floor of a high-mix, low-volume CNC job shop in the morning, review safety and quality dashboards, and align your Production, Quality, Process Engineering, and Maintenance leaders on the plan for the day. By midday, you’ve balanced customer priorities with machine availability and setups, fine-tuned the production schedule, and addressed a cycle-time opportunity with programming support and tooling changes. In the afternoon, you’re reviewing financial performance—labor costs, margins, operating variances—and partnering with leadership on revenue forecasts, capacity, and capital planning. Before close, you brief company leadership on performance, risks, and improvements, then connect with supervisors on talent development, accountability, and sustaining a safe, organized, professional environment.

What you will lead

• End-to-end manufacturing ownership: safety, quality, delivery, cost, and employee performance.
• Functional team leadership across Production, Quality, Process Engineering, and Maintenance.
• Daily management of a high-mix, low-volume CNC machining operation with schedule adherence.
• Oversight of CNC activities: programming support, setups, tooling, fixtures, cycle-time optimization, and equipment reliability.
• Production planning that balances capacity, labor, machine readiness, setup timing, and customer commitments.
• Throughput and productivity gains; reductions in scrap, downtime, setup time; improvement in first-pass yield and on-time delivery.
• Plant financial management including budgets, labor, margins, forecasting, capital expenditures, and variance analysis.
• Strategic partnership on revenue forecasts, capacity needs, capital planning, and operational roadmaps.
• Continuous improvement and cost-reduction initiatives from idea through execution.
• Support for quoting, order review, NPI, program launches, supplier collaboration, and subcontractor performance.
• Preventive maintenance programs and reliability initiatives that protect uptime.
• Compliance with quality systems, corrective actions, customer specifications, and controlled documentation.
• Development of supervisors, technical leaders, and production staff with clear expectations and accountability.
• Workforce initiatives with HR: staffing, training, performance management, succession planning, and career growth.
• Regular communication on plant performance, priorities, challenges, and improvement roadmaps to company leadership.
• Strong relationships with customers, suppliers, internal teams, and the shop-floor workforce.

What you bring

• 7+ years of progressive manufacturing experience with increasing leadership scope.
• Deep background in CNC machining or precision manufacturing environments.
• Prior success as a Plant, Operations, Manufacturing, or Production Manager (or comparable leadership role).
• Hands-on understanding of machining processes: tooling, fixtures, setups, routings, cycle-time reduction, and shop-floor problem solving.
• Experience in high-mix, low-volume or job-shop settings strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams and lift operational performance.
• Working knowledge of P&L, budgeting, forecasting, labor cost control, capital planning, cost drivers, and variance analysis.
• Background in scheduling, capacity planning, purchasing, inventory, shipping, and job-cost management.
• ERP proficiency; Plex exposure is a plus, not a requirement.
• Familiarity with manufacturing quality systems, corrective actions, and customer requirements.
• Strong continuous improvement mindset and problem-solving capability.
• Talent development skills that build a strong, accountable manufacturing culture.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• Associate’s or Bachelor’s in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, or related preferred; equivalent manufacturing experience considered.

Why this role

Own the full performance of a CNC job shop and shape the next phase of growth. Whether you’re a seasoned Plant Manager or an Operations/Manufacturing Manager ready to seize site leadership, this is a direct path to impact in Troy, MI.