How to hire a production department supervisor

How to hire a production department supervisor, step by step

Here's a step-by-step production department supervisor hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a production department supervisor job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new production department supervisor
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The production department supervisor hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect production department supervisor also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents production department supervisor salaries for various positions.

   Type of Production Department Supervisor	Description	Hourly rate
   Production Department Supervisor		$12-22
   Assembly Supervisor	Assembly Supervisors oversee and coordinate employees' work on assembly-lines. The supervisors assign personnel to stations or tasks and prepare their work schedules... Show more	$19-44
   Lead Supervisor	Lead supervisors are responsible for several duties within an organization. They are accountable for overseeing their members and making sure that the work they produce is of good quality... Show more	$12-34

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Continuous Improvement
   • Customer Specifications
   • Safety Procedures
   • Lean Manufacturing
   • Production Floor
   • Sigma
   • Payroll
   • R
   • Kaizen
   • Production Schedules
   • Equipment Performance
   • Quality Standards
   • MRP
   • Process Improvement

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead targeted decision-making across fast-pace production operations for this growth-orient USDA food factory producing quality meat products.
   • Involve in one kaizen event at this facility-beginning of lean journey.
   • Assure all product produce meets the company specifications and FDA requirements.
   • Aid in the development of manufacturing processes utilizing CNC lathes and machining centers for numerous automotive suppliers.
   • Monitor control plans, troubleshoot workmanship problems and supervise production activities to ensure manufacture products meet or exceed establish quality requirements.
   • Train operators on best practices, operational protocol, and tactics to maximize performance of extrusion operation.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your production department supervisor job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A production department supervisor can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, production department supervisors' average salary in florida is 41% less than in north dakota.
   • Seniority. Entry-level production department supervisors 46% less than senior-level production department supervisors.
   • Certifications. A production department supervisor with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a production department supervisor's salary.

   Average production department supervisor salary

   $16.56hourly

   $34,438 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level production department supervisor salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 31, 2026

4. Writing a production department supervisor job description

   A good production department supervisor job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a production department supervisor job description:

   Production department supervisor job description example

   Under direction, supervises a unit of Media Production Specialists responsible for training departments on virtual & hybrid meetings, creating video production programs for City Departments, production of live and recorded meetings, public service announcements, remote and in-studio productions, press conference Monitors the quality of productions.
   ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
   
   Produces, engineers, directs, shoots, edits and supervises video productions, including single camera "film style" and ENG (electronic news gathering) type productions, studio productions, multi-camera remote productions, and coverage of public meetings held at City Hall with robotically controlled cameras.
   
   Provide technical training for users and departments on virtual meeting platforms such as (MS Teams, WebEx) and hybrid meeting format (in-person and virtual) for public board meetings and community outreach. Stream Live meetings to YouTube and Granicus for public information and public access. Moderate public call in access.
   
   Recommends, designs, installs and maintains production and master control playback equipment, cable television systems and internet video streaming systems.
   
   Operates and troubleshoots complex issues with video switcher, character generator, video cameras, digital video recorders, robotic camera controls, camera control units, waveform monitors, vectorscope, audio and video routing switchers, lighting instruments, non-linear editing and other audio and video production equipment for the production of video programming for the city's cable television station.
   
   Supervises, evaluates and trains production staff.
   
   Prepares complete production budgets for productions billed to client departments and outside agencies; works with representatives of City departments to create effective video productions; makes policy and budget recommendations to management.
   
   Communicates in writing and verbally with representatives of City departments.
   
   May serve as on camera talent and voice over talent for production programs and Public Service Announcements (PSA).
   
   Performs related duties as required.
   
   Appointment Type: Temporary Exempt (TEX) - Full Time, this position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the appointment officer. The anticipated duration of this project position is thirty-six (36) months and will not result in an eligible list or permanent civil service hiring.
   
   Nature of Work:
   Work Location: Incumbent will conduct the majority of work at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94103. However, there may be situations where the incumbent will be required to work at other sites throughout the City of San Francisco as necessary. Candidate must be willing to work a 40-hour week as determined by the department. Candidate may also provide standby support when necessary. This position is NOT supporting 100% remote work

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right production department supervisor for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with production department supervisors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit production department supervisors who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your production department supervisor job on Zippia to find and recruit production department supervisor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting production department supervisors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new production department supervisor

   Once you've selected the best production department supervisor candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new production department supervisor. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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