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Senior manufacturing manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

9 min read

Quoted experts

Jonathan Puthoff,

Dr. Kamran Abedini

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical senior manufacturing manager skills. We ranked the top skills for senior manufacturing managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 10.7% of senior manufacturing manager resumes contained continuous improvement as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a senior manufacturing manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 senior manufacturing manager skills for your resume and career

1. Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is an ongoing process of improvement of products, services, and processes with the help of innovative ideas. It is an organized approach that helps an organization to find its weaknesses and improve them.

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use continuous improvement:

Led interdepartmental Lean Manufacturing/Continuous Improvement initiatives.
Worked collaboratively with engineering team / production staff; analyzed data/metrics toward continuous improvement projects.

2. Lean Manufacturing

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use lean manufacturing:

Increased plant productivity while maintaining optimal safe work conditions through implementing Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma principles.
Spearheaded implementation of Lean manufacturing and Toyota Production System into Americas manufacturing sites.

3. Sigma

In Greek alphabets, sigma is the 18th letter that means "to sum up". In statistics, the lower case symbol of sigma is the unit of measurement for standard deviation which is used to assess the variability in a given set of data. While the upper case symbol is for summation notation means to add up all the given numbers in the data set.

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use sigma:

Sponsored more than 45 lean and six sigma programs in a 4 year period.
Managed RFT (Right First Time) and Lean Six Sigma activities.

4. SR

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use sr:

Publish and present daily production report to Sr.

5. Project Management

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use project management:

Project management of large elementary education programs from PDF file through prepress, manufacture, warehouse delivery, and assembly.
Certified Trainer and Facilitator Project Management Certification

6. GMP

GMP stands for Good Manufacturing Practice. It is a system that ensures that all products like food, beverages, and medicinal drugs that are produced comply with the quality standards. It helps in minimizing the risks and hazards that cannot be eliminated after the testing of final products.

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use gmp:

Started up GMP manufacturing for Phase 3 clinical supply from facility validation to batch record creation and training.
Collaborated with QA to successfully re-establish EU certification for GMP manufacturing in one year.

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7. Production Schedules

The project plan of a film or a documentary that highlights how a production budget will be spent over a given period until its completion is called a production schedule. The scheduling process starts with writing and analyzing the script, which is then broken down to determine and allocate the budget for each scene. The production schedule also includes several elements of the film including; cast actors, special effects, wardrobe, special equipment, stunts, extras, silent bits, production equipment, and many others.

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use production schedules:

Mentored production staff including: operators, supervisors, managers according to production schedule.
Coordinated production schedules for two facilities.

8. Process Improvement

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use process improvement:

Worked closely with quality control personnel regarding process improvements to manufacturing production documents and with manufacturing technology to aseptic fill operations.
Subject matter expert for regulatory/customer audits* Change leader for McKinsey process improvement initiatives and installed OEE metrics for filling operations.

9. FDA

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services that regulates the production and sale of food, pharmaceutical products, medical equipment, and other consumer goods, as well as veterinary medicine. The FDA is now in charge of overseeing the manufacture of products like vaccines, allergy treatments, and beauty products.

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use fda:

Facilitated successful EMEA inspection & successfully prepared department for FDA regulatory inspection resulting in no 483 observations.
Selected to lead regulatory audits of manufacturing with FDA officials and representatives from foreign agencies.

10. Logistics

Logistics is a complete organization and implementation of a problem. Logistics are often considered in a complex business operation, as some works need detailed plannings. Logistics are also used in military action.

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use logistics:

Managed manufacturing operations cross functionally with quality, logistics operations, procurement, finance, sales, and marketing.
Pioneered the logistics and custom configuration operations of 600K square foot entity delivering over $1.4Billiion in annual revenue.

11. Lean Six Sigma

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use lean six sigma:

Drive organizational change by implementing Lean Six Sigma and best practices for manufacturing processes and equipment.
Improved employee development through lean six sigma/operational excellence training and establishing new SOP's.

12. Product Quality

Product quality is the basic element of a business. It means to add features in a product or service in such a way that it meets the needs and wants of the customers. Enhancing the product quality also means improve the goods from any existing defects to ensure customer satisfaction.

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use product quality:

Developed methodology for materials cost reduction and improved manufacturing product quality.
Implemented a 2nd generation process with improved product quality and yields.

13. Quality Standards

Quality standards are a specific level of standards of products that are set by the companies for the customers that have to be met and maintained throughout the process until the time of delivery. Quality standards are information that includes the customer's requirements, guidelines, and characteristics for the needed final product or service.

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use quality standards:

Assisted in developing quality standards for product in accordance with customer requirements and the company philosophy of Quality First.
Created quality standards and procedures for operations.

14. Direct Reports

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use direct reports:

Provide managerial leadership, coaching/feedback and development for direct reports and business partners.
Direct reports included Supervisors, Manufacturing Engineers and Supply Chain Analyst.

15. ISO

Here's how senior manufacturing managers use iso:

Implemented ISO 9002 quality system in manufacturing operations resulting in an organized, structured system with international acceptance.
Improved certification process for operators, correcting minor incident to retain ISO 9001 certification.

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What skills help Senior Manufacturing Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on senior manufacturing manager resumes?

Jonathan Puthoff

Associate Professor, California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

Collaboration and communication skills. I also think that students should graduate knowing at least one field-specific software design tool or package, as well as some evidence that they can learn more on the job. Finally, workplaces are more diverse in terms of the generations, ethnicities, and genders represented than they have been at any time in the past, so students who have a wide variety of out-of-classroom experiences (and presumably make more considerate colleagues) could do well to highlight those.

What senior manufacturing manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Kamran Abedini

Professor and Chairman, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

First of all, I do not recommend a gap year or any interruptions in education as it could require additional warm-up and setup for starting it again in the future. However, if they "need" to do so, I recommend they at least take one course so that they understand the trend and the expectations of students in an educational environment. For example, in the last couple of semesters, both faculty and students have learned and experienced new methods of virtual learning and assessment. If you just plan on coming to school after a few semesters, you would be highly surprised by the changes, taking you much time to prepare, and it would cause falling behind your coursework.

What type of skills will young senior manufacturing managers need?

Adrian Tan

Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator, Pennsylvania State University - New Kensington

The feedback from business leaders is that they wish to see a balanced mix of different skills in new graduates. An unexpected skill mentioned is the ability to use spreadsheets such as Excel. Companies do not expect to have to train new employees to use spreadsheets, though it turned out that spreadsheets are widely used (at varying levels of complexity) at all levels in organizations. An assumption here is that if a graduate already has good spreadsheet skills, then the graduate should also have the ability to quickly pick up on other more complex business IT skills required by the organization.
Businesses also need to know if their new employees can effectively interact with internal or external audiences. In this regard, excellent presentation skills are the minimum expectation from businesses. Presentation skills (both formal and informal) include the ability to read people, to communicate, and to covey information appropriately to the different types of audiences they may encounter - and these may sometimes include bored, skeptical, adversarial or even hostile audiences.
Every organization also requires graduates to show that they are good team-players. In addition to that, it is a big advantage if graduates can also demonstrate sound leadership skills in the context of teamwork. This is because new employees with leadership potential are viewed as those who are willing to go the extra mile, able to function with minimum supervision, can roll with the punches to jump back into the fray, and trusted to welcome (instead of to avoid) new assignments or challenges. Leadership skills are also seen as closely aligned with the possession of a corporate entrepreneurial mindset in that such employees are more willing to challenge the status quo, come up with out-of-the-box ideas, and help lead transformation efforts that can guide the organization in the future.

Do you want to know more?

List of senior manufacturing manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a senior manufacturing manager resume and required skills for a senior manufacturing manager to have include:

Continuous Improvement
Lean Manufacturing
Sigma
SR
Project Management
GMP
Production Schedules
Process Improvement
FDA
Logistics
Lean Six Sigma
Product Quality
Quality Standards
Direct Reports
ISO
Value Stream

Quality System
On-Time Delivery
ERP
Manufacturing Management
Manufacturing Support
Technical Support
Quality Issues
Sops
Kaizen
Cost Reduction
NPI
R
Capacity Planning
MRP
CMO
QA

Product Line
QC
Employee Engagement
CMC
MFG
SPC
OSHA
Management System
Process Engineering
Contract Manufacturers
Product Development
Inventory Control
Capital Equipment
Production Control
Cost Savings

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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