Senior Manufacturing Lead in Fontana, California at Smart LLC

Position Summary

The Sr. Manufacturing Lead provides advanced floor leadership for household and automotive chemical filling and packaging operations. This hands-on role directs 10+ operators in English and Spanish, coordinates assigned high-speed lines, and serves as a technical escalation resource for Manufacturing Leads. The role independently drives safe production recovery within approved procedures, coaches Leads and operators, and converts performance data into documented improvements. Senior-level performance requires demonstrated technical judgment, cross-line coordination, and sustained execution of standard work.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead assigned integrated high-speed filling and packaging operations; coordinate staffing, material readiness, and priorities across assigned lines within the approved production plan.
• Serve as the first technical escalation resource for Manufacturing Leads; diagnose recurring filling, capping, labeling, shrink-wrap, heat-tunnel, and packout problems, coordinate recovery with Maintenance, and verify stable operation within approved restart procedures.
• Lead setup and changeover readiness checks; verify fill volume, closure torque, label alignment, batch coding, and packout requirements with Quality before routine production proceeds.
• Coach Manufacturing Leads and operators in troubleshooting, changeovers, standard work, and escalation; document training and verify demonstrated proficiency.
• Monitor components and reconcile usage against output; investigate recurring scrap and yield losses and coordinate corrective follow-up with Quality and Operations.
• Anticipate material constraints across assigned lines; coordinate pulls, staging, and transfers with Inventory Control and Logistics and escalate shortages before production is interrupted.
• Coordinate the immediate response to nonconformances, including stopping affected activity and containing suspect product; support root-cause investigations and verify assigned corrective actions with Quality.
• Review units per hour, downtime, yield loss, and changeover time against agreed targets; identify recurring losses and lead assigned improvement trials with documented before-and-after results.
• Lead shift handoffs covering output, open defects, equipment condition, material risks, and action owners; follow unresolved issues through closure or escalation.
• Enforce PPE, chemical-handling, and safe-work requirements. Perform only authorized operator adjustments; escalate repairs to Maintenance and retain Quality approval for product disposition. Staffing authority covers daily work assignments; formal personnel decisions remain with management.

30/60/90 Day Success Plan

30 Days

• Focus: Assess line performance
• Key Goals: Demonstrate safe setup and troubleshooting; review recurring downtime, scrap, and changeover losses.
• Success Looks Like: Complete qualification review and establish baseline metrics and prioritized actions with the manager.

60 Days

• Focus: Lead recovery and coaching
• Key Goals: Coordinate assigned line priorities and recovery; coach at least one Lead or designated backup; implement one approved improvement trial.
• Success Looks Like: Document coaching and proficiency checks, complete shift handoffs, and compare trial results with the baseline.

90 Days

• Focus: Deliver sustained improvement
• Key Goals: Independently coordinate assigned high-speed operations; complete one improvement project and verify standard-work adoption.
• Success Looks Like: Present measured results against manager-agreed targets, evidence of sustained follow-up, and proficiency of the trained backup.

Reports To: Dir. of Manufacturing and Quality

Location: Fontana - Fully Onsite

Schedule: During Off peak: Monday - Friday from 5 am to 2 pm & On Peak: Monday - Saturday from 5 am to 6 pm.

Job Type: Full-Time

Department: Manufacturing

Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k match, voluntary Life and Disability insurance, FSA, PTO + 5 sick days, paid holidays & employee discount.

Chemical Guys is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

In accordance with California law, we will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance (where applicable).

Accommodation requests: Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation to participate in the hiring process should contact HR at hr@chemicalguys.com.

Qualifications

Required

• Education: High school diploma or GED; no college degree required.
• Experience: 5+ years in liquid manufacturing, including demonstrated lead-level responsibility on automated filling and packaging lines.
• Skills: Fluent English and Spanish; advanced troubleshooting across connected equipment; independent judgment within approved procedures; ability to coach Leads and operators, coordinate multiple line priorities, interpret production metrics, and demonstrate completed improvements.
• Prolonged standing and walking; frequent bending and reaching; manual equipment adjustments; regular lifting/moving up to 50 lbs; ability to work extended 12-hour shifts.
• Working in a non-climate-controlled manufacturing / warehouse environment; household and automotive chemical filling and packaging.

Preferred

• Household/automotive chemicals or consumer packaged goods experience.
• High-speed line startup or ramp-up experience.
• Documented reductions in downtime, scrap, or changeover time.
• Sit-down / stand-up forklift certification