What does a senior manufacturing manager do?
A senior manufacturing engineer specializes in designing and developing tools and machinery to optimize manufacturing procedures, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities include understanding and identifying the company's needs, producing prototypes and test structures, studying feedback from internal and external parties, creating progress reports, and analyzing existing systems and machinery, implementing solutions against vulnerable areas. Furthermore, as a senior manufacturing engineer, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with staff while enforcing the company's safety policies and regulations.
Senior manufacturing manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior manufacturing manager resumes:
- Lead and support CAPA, NCR investigations
- Lead the group to develop process improvement strategies following GMP guidelines.
- Manage manufacturing operations cross functionally with quality, logistics operations, procurement, finance, sales, and marketing.
- Lead kaizen event to improve the new assembler hiring and training process, which significantly increase new hire retention rates.
- Lead productivity improvement program, OEE improvement initiatives, and suggestion program.
- Manage global automation projects within high-volume, discrete semiconductor manufacturing and PCB assembly line for hybrid modules.
- Participate in annual ISO audits.
- Use ERP for scheduling and forecasting.
- Use ERP system to drive production scheduling.
- Initiate implementation of FMEA to new products.
- Involve with and pass many ISO audits (internal and external).
- Sponsor more than 45 lean and six sigma programs in a 4 year period.
- Redesign new product introduction (NPI), product realization, and product management processes.
- Improve sales per associate from $200K to $285K through Kaizen events and visual factory standards.
- Pioneer the logistics and custom configuration operations of 600K square foot entity delivering over $1.4Billiion in annual revenue.
Senior manufacturing manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Senior Manufacturing Managers are proficient in Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing, and Sigma. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Problem-solving skills, and Time-management skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Manufacturing Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Continuous Improvement, 11%
Led interdepartmental Lean Manufacturing/Continuous Improvement initiatives.
- Lean Manufacturing, 10%
Increased plant productivity while maintaining optimal safe work conditions through implementing Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma principles.
- Sigma, 5%
Sponsored more than 45 lean and six sigma programs in a 4 year period.
- SR, 5%
Publish and present daily production report to Sr.
- Project Management, 4%
Project management of large elementary education programs from PDF file through prepress, manufacture, warehouse delivery, and assembly.
- GMP, 4%
Started up GMP manufacturing for Phase 3 clinical supply from facility validation to batch record creation and training.
"continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," and "sigma" are among the most common skills that senior manufacturing managers use at work. You can find even more senior manufacturing manager responsibilities below, including:
Leadership skills. One of the key soft skills for a senior manufacturing manager to have is leadership skills. You can see how this relates to what senior manufacturing managers do because "to keep the production process running smoothly, industrial production managers must motivate and direct employees." Additionally, a senior manufacturing manager resume shows how senior manufacturing managers use leadership skills: "key responsibilities provide leadership to mfg. "
Problem-solving skills. Many senior manufacturing manager duties rely on problem-solving skills. "production managers must identify and address problems that arise," so a senior manufacturing manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior manufacturing manager responsibilities rely on problem-solving skills: "resolved quality management system gaps to successfully achieve iso certification in 2015. "
Interpersonal skills. senior manufacturing manager responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "industrial production managers must have excellent communication skills to work well other managers and with staff." This resume example shows what senior manufacturing managers do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "train and certify production supervisors to written procedures and to develop interpersonal skills. "
The three companies that hire the most senior manufacturing managers are:
- Ernst & Young54 senior manufacturing managers jobs
- Bristol-Myers Squibb23 senior manufacturing managers jobs
- Fuchs Petrolub18 senior manufacturing managers jobs
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Compare different senior manufacturing managers
Senior manufacturing manager vs. Production administrator
Production administrators support all artistic and production functions with expert administrative support to the entire production team. Part of their responsibilities includes maintaining the annual production expenses and production calendar, researching potential venues and maintaining a venue database, and preparing expense reports for artists and production staff. These administrators must be excellent in organization and planning skills, comfortable and flexible with evolving roles, and highly proficient in computer skills such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Office.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior manufacturing manager responsibilities require skills like "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," "sigma," and "sr." Meanwhile a typical production administrator has skills in areas such as "data entry," "purchase orders," "windows," and "payroll." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Production administrators earn the highest salaries when working in the manufacturing industry, with an average yearly salary of $43,182. On the other hand, senior manufacturing managers are paid more in the automotive industry with an average salary of $181,200.On average, production administrators reach lower levels of education than senior manufacturing managers. Production administrators are 14.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior manufacturing manager vs. Plant superintendent
Plant superintendents must have skills in operations, productions, and management. They also need a 4-year degree in business or industrial management. Those who choose this career will be called upon to oversee a plant's manufacturing processes and to recommend improvements to increase productivity. They also enforce all state and federal regulations for plant operations and employee safety.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior manufacturing manager resumes. While senior manufacturing manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "sr," "project management," "logistics," and "lean six sigma," plant superintendents use skills like "plant safety," "production supervisors," "plant operations," and "corrective action."
On average, plant superintendents earn a lower salary than senior manufacturing managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, plant superintendents earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $116,194. Whereas senior manufacturing managers have higher pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $181,200.plant superintendents earn lower levels of education than senior manufacturing managers in general. They're 12.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior manufacturing managers in the next 3-5 years?
Jerry Leth
VP/General Manager, MANA
Senior manufacturing manager vs. Continuous improvement manager
A Continuous Improvement Manager initiates and facilitates lean improvement programs and activities. They ensure that progress is maintained on an ongoing basis.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior manufacturing manager is likely to be skilled in "sr," "gmp," "production schedules," and "fda," while a typical continuous improvement manager is skilled in "kaizen events," "lean tools," "dmaic," and "customer service."
Continuous improvement managers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $95,413. On the other hand, senior manufacturing managers are paid the highest salary in the automotive industry, with average annual pay of $181,200.When it comes to education, continuous improvement managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to senior manufacturing managers. In fact, they're 1.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior manufacturing manager vs. Manager
Managers are responsible for a specific department, function, or employee group. They oversee their assigned departments and all the employees under the department. Managers are responsible that the department they are handling is functioning well. They set the department goals and the steps they must take to achieve the goals. They are also in charge of assessing the performance of their departments and their employees. Additionally, managers are responsible for interviewing prospective candidates for department vacancies and assessing their fit to the needs of the department. Managers also set the general working environment in the department, and they are expected to ensure that their employees remain motivated.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior manufacturing managers and managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior manufacturing manager might have more use for skills like "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," "sigma," and "sr." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of managers require skills like "customer service," "payroll," "food safety," and "financial statements. "
Managers enjoy the best pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $71,781. For comparison, senior manufacturing managers earn the highest salary in the automotive industry.In general, managers hold lower degree levels compared to senior manufacturing managers. Managers are 12.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior manufacturing manager
Updated January 8, 2025
