Production Supervisor/Team Captain

Overview

The Team Captain is a frontline leader responsible for ensuring safe, reliable, and efficient manufacturing operations. This leadership / supervisory role directly contributes to driving operational excellence (across safety, quality, reliability & engagement) with a key focus on people development.  The goal of the Team Captain is to promote the right culture with visible presence and coaching the team to consistently set and achieve the highest level of excellence and world-class performance in all that we do.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Leader-Leader: Facilitate execution and align priorities to achieve flawless execution of the production plan and 4 core principles. Implement resource planning based upon unit objectives and daily activities
• Field interaction supporting flawless SQRE execution, Leader-Leader culture, operational learning teams and individual development
• Create a stewardship and operational culture of normalization of excellence, high standards and behaviors
• Effective 1:1 individual development. Identify capability, knowledge and skills gaps and facilitate actions to close. Develop personnel development plans.
• Manage performance issue closure. Recognize effective team behaviors.
• Contribute knowledge and experience to mitigating emerging risk, troubleshooting problems, root cause analysis of events and incidents
• Effective setup and shift handover to the next Team and Team Captain, including short and mid-term resource planning, emerging risk and escalation
• Champion 5S and Visual management with the team to drive continuous improvement.

KEY COMPETENCIES:

Coaching and Development: 

• Develop Talent: Coach and mentor team members, provide feedback, and identify training needs. Build future-ready capabilities across process areas, administrative tasks, and core skills.
• Team Performance: Foster a high-performance culture using tools such as recognition, coaching, feedback, mediation, goal setting, and disciplinary action.
• Champion Continuous Improvement: Identify and address gaps in processes, systems, and reliability. Lead team initiatives to implement sustainable solutions.

COMMUNICATION

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Operations, Maintenance, Learning Facilitators, Stewardship Leaders, and Daily Execution Leaders to support team development and performance.
• Facilitate Communication: Support SQRE meetings, manage shift handovers, continuity, and escalate critical issues promptly. Perform turnover with the incoming Team Captain to promote ongoing sharing of current status, information, and problem resolution.
• Resolved Issues: Serve as the first point of contact for conflict resolution and troubleshooting. Resolve process and equipment issues within the team and escalate unresolved matters using defined protocols. “Close the loop”.
• Difficult Conversations: be willing to have the challenge conversations when needed with the team at all levels.

DRIVING FOR RESULTS

• Lead and Inspire: Motivate the team to meet production targets and SQRE objectives by setting clear priorities and mitigating risks.
• Safety Excellence: Champion a zero-incident mindset through proactive hazard identification and consistent field engagement.
• Contractors: Understands ongoing work, hazards, point of contact, and potential impact to process areas and people.
• Operational Results: Deliver first-quality products on schedule while minimizing downtime and waste.

Move to the Core (MttC): Learn and promote Celanese MttC Operating Model in alignment with the organizational goals and objectives. Key focus on 4 pillars; Leader-Leader, Flawless Day Execution, Working from the Inside Out, and Operational Learning.

SUCCESS MEASURES

• Demonstrates strong leadership presence on the floor, visible and accessible to team members and ongoing feedback on culture of the team.
• Site will define KPIs to drive behaviors and measurement performance
• Build a high-performing team with measurable improvements in results, skill development and engagement.
• Effectively communicates priorities, team needs, constraints, status, and ensures seamless shift transitions.
• Strong safety performance and proactive hazard identification.
• Consistent production and quality results aligned with site targets.
• Demonstrated improvement in team capability, engagement, and readiness.
• High-quality shift handovers and effective communication across teams.

Qualifications

Skills Required

• High school diploma required, Bachelor's degree preferred.
• Demonstrated informal leadership skills through peer-to-peer coaching, mentoring, and positive work behaviors.
• Proven respectful interactions with all levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize and accomplish tasks.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Passionate about Stewardship, Quality, Reliability, Engagement and Productivity.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office.
• Demonstrated intentional multiplier.
• Strong organization and time-management skills.
• Accepts ownership.
• Delivers on commitments.
• Detail-oriented.
• Team player.
• Receptive to feedback.

Skills Preferred

• Embodies Move to the Core principles and exhibits Move to the Core Team Captain leadership behaviors.
• Familiar with all areas of the Hytrel® plant (but not necessarily fully qualified).
• Clear understanding of company policies and site policies and procedures, particularly the Cooper River Employee Resource Manual, Management of Change: Personnel, Training Progression, Shift Turnover, Absence Management Policy, and Overtime Policy.

Working Conditions

• Work a 12-hr rotating (4-4-3-3) shift schedule, which includes nights, weekends, and holidays.
• Process area is non-air conditioned and requires wearing fire resistant clothing due to possible presence of flammable atmospheres.
• Individual must periodically don specialty thermal protective clothing as some tasks have potential exposure to molten polymer and high temperature heat transfer fluids during line breaks and maintenance tasks. Individual must be able to safely don this equipment.
• The job entails periodic heavy lifting utilizing safe ergonomic behaviors.  Individual must be capable of lifting 50 lb.
• Must be able to climb stairs, ladders, and scaffolding frequently during the shift in various environments.
• Individual must be medically approved to wear a respirator.
• Individual must be capable of working in a confined space where supplied breathing air or respirators may be required.
• Must be able to work standing, walking or sitting for extended periods of time.
• Must be able to work in high noise atmosphere and wear hearing protection.
• Must be able to occasionally operate mobile equipment.
• Must be able to work from heights.
• Individual must be capable of performing simple math computations involving ratios and fractions.
• Individual must possess strong interpersonal and teamwork skills capable of working in an empowered team environment.

Travel is minimal but may include visits to other Celanese locations, customers or vendors supplying new equipment.