Manufacturing Manager (OPTO)

Your Job

As Manufacturing Manager, you will be accountable for end-to-end manufacturing performance and leadership at the plant level. You’ll drive safe operations, customer value creation, talent development, and continuous improvement—always in alignment with Molex values and PBM principles. You will lead production leadership teams to deliver safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity excellence, ensuring manufacturing execution is fully aligned with business strategy and long-term value creation for Molex.

Our Team

You’ll join the Molex manufacturing division, working closely with Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, and Finance. Our team thrives in a culture of accountability, engagement, teamwork, and continuous learning, where we live out Principle Based Management (PBM) and drive operational excellence across every production area.

What You Will Do

• Own end-to-end manufacturing performance across all production areas, consistently achieving EHS, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity targets.
• Translate business and plant objectives into clear operational priorities, execution plans, and KPIs.
• Lead, coach, and develop Production Superintendents, Supervisors, and Leaders to build a strong leadership bench and succession pipeline.
• Foster a culture of accountability, engagement, teamwork, and continuous learning.
• Drive talent development, performance management, and organizational capability growth.
• Lead a zero-incident safety culture by ensuring strict adherence to EHS standards, policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Support internal and external audits, ensuring sustained closure of corrective actions.
• Review and analyze manufacturing metrics (OEE, yield, scrap, throughput, labor efficiency, cost), and lead structured problem-solving initiatives.
• Deploy Lean Manufacturing and Operational Excellence systems aligned with Molex standards.
• Champion methodologies such as 5S, Standard Work, Visual Management, SMED, Kaizen, and error-proofing.
• Actively eliminate waste and improve flow across materials, information, and people.
• Drive cost reduction, productivity improvement, and waste elimination initiatives aligned with business goals.
• Support new product introductions, process changes, and capacity expansion initiatives.
• Ensure accurate production planning execution, inventory control, and cycle count discipline.
• Drive effective use of ERP systems (SAP preferred) and data-driven decision making.
• Apply MBM™ principles to improve manufacturing capability, efficiency, and customer value.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Business Administration, or related field.
• 8–12 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including 5+ years in leadership roles managing managers or large, multi-shift teams.
• Strong knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, and structured problem-solving methodologies.
• Experience in high-volume manufacturing environments (electronics, automotive, industrial, optical, or similar).
• Proven ability to lead change, improve performance, and deliver sustainable results.
• Experience working with ERP systems (SAP preferred) and data-driven performance management.
• Bilingual English / Spanish proficiency required.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Master’s degree in Engineering or Business Administration.
• Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
• Formal Lean Manufacturing certification.
• Experience managing 500+ employees across multiple shifts in 24/7 or extended-hour operations.
• Strong financial acumen, including cost management and budget ownership.

Core Competencies

• Strategic and operational leadership
• People development and coaching mindset
• Data-driven decision making
• Transformation management and continuous improvement leadership

Work Environment

• Manufacturing plant environment with daily presence on the production floor.
• May require shift, weekend, or extended-hour support based on operational needs.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Who We Are

As a Koch company, Molex is a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect components, driving innovation in electronics and supporting industries from automotive to health care and consumer to data communications. The thousands of innovators who work for Molex have made us a global electronics leader. Our experienced people, groundbreaking products and leading-edge technologies help us deliver a wider array of solutions to more markets than ever before.

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

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