Production Manager, Assembly & Finishing

Description

About Helix Linear

Helix Linear Technologies designs and manufactures high-precision motion control systems for industries where performance matters most, including aerospace, medical devices, defense, and advanced automation. Our products power mission-critical applications where reliability and precision down to ±0.0001 inches make all the difference.

Our vision is to engineer what's possible in motion, with precision, integrity, and purpose. We pursue that vision by designing, machining, grinding, and assembling critical motion components in-house, including precision ball screws and linear systems. Our clean, climate-controlled facility is equipped with advanced manufacturing equipment including Citizen Swiss lathes, multi-axis CNC mills, precision grinders, and specialized assembly and test systems.

Helix is growing and investing in new equipment, advanced processes, and the systems required to scale with discipline. As we expand, we're building a world-class precision manufacturing operation, which means higher standards for ownership, communication, urgency, and accountability across every role on the floor.

About the Position

The Production Manager, Assembly & Finishing owns day-to-day leadership across six of Helix's production departments: the Bar Group (grinding and thread rolling), Assembly, Coating, Deburring, and Molding. This is a direct people-leadership role: you're on the floor, running the schedule, holding department leads accountable, and making sure work moves cleanly from one operation to the next without getting stuck, scrapped, or shipped wrong.

This role owns the finishing and assembly side of production. You work closely with managers responsible for Precision Machining side of production that produce the machined components you receive. Together you run one continuous flow: ground and thread-rolled bar from your bar group and machined components that move through deburring and coating, and molded components feed assembly. 

You report to the Director of Operations and work closely with your Machining Managers, Quality, Planning, and Engineering to keep the floor running at the standard an aerospace-grade manufacturer requires.

Responsibilities

Department Management

• Directly supervise leads/supervisors across the Bar Group (grinding and thread rolling), Assembly, Coating, Deburring, and Injection Molding.
• Hire, coach, and performance-manage direct reports; set clear standards and hold people to them.
• Build bench strength in each department so the operation isn't dependent on any single person.

Production Execution

• Own the daily production schedule across all six departments and keep it realistic and current.
• Coordinate with Planning/Scheduling to align capacity, job priority, and due dates in Epicor.
• Identify and clear bottlenecks before they cost a delivery date.
• Accept new products and engineering changes into production from Advanced Manufacturing against clear handoff criteria; documented setup, validated routing, trained operators, and first-pass yield at the agreed threshold.

Quality & Process Discipline

• Partner with Quality to enforce process controls and close non-conformances at the source, not downstream.
• Ensure work instructions, routings, and inspection points are followed consistently across departments.
• Maintain AS9100-compliant documentation, training records, and process discipline within your departments.
• Drive continuous improvement in first-pass yield, scrap, and rework; escalate to Advanced Manufacturing when an issue repeats, crosses departments, or requires a process or program change, including on rolling and injection molding.

Cross-Department Flow

• Manage the handoffs across your departments; bar group and machined components into deburring and coating, molded components into assembly, so material keeps moving and WIP doesn't stack up in any one department.
• Coordinate directly with the Precision Machining managers on the handoff from CNC turning, milling, Swiss, and EDM into your departments; this is the highest-risk point for bottlenecks and miscommunication between teams.
• Escalate and resolve cross-department conflicts over priority, capacity, or sequencing.

Who You Are

• Hands-on floor leader who can walk into any of the six departments and know what's happening, what's at risk, and what needs to happen next.
• Comfortable holding people accountable to a standard; not just monitoring output and hoping it improves.
• Data-driven: you use the schedule and shop-floor data to make calls, not gut feel alone.
• Strong cross-functional communicator who works daily with Quality, Engineering, and Planning to keep priorities aligned.
• Calm under pressure, with the right sense of urgency; fast where it matters, disciplined everywhere else.
• Builds leads and supervisors up, not just manages around them.

What You Bring

• 5+ years in manufacturing supervision or management, overseeing multiple production departments in a machining or discrete-manufacturing environment.
• Direct people-management experience; hiring, coaching, and performance management, not just task assignment.
• Working knowledge of an ERP/MRP system; routings, work centers, scheduling logic; Epicor strongly preferred.
• Experience in a high-mix, low-volume precision manufacturing environment.
• Experience in an AS9100D or aerospace/defense quality environment, including FOD and ESD discipline. 
• Exposure to equipment maintenance/reliability oversight is a plus.
• Familiarity with linear-motion components (ball screws, lead screws, actuators) or comparable precision machining is a plus.
• Experience overseeing grinding, thread rolling, or comparable bar-processing operations is a plus.

What Success Looks Like

• On-time delivery and utilization trend toward Helix's 90% OTD / 80% utilization goals.
• First-pass yield rises across your departments; scrap, rework, and repeat non-conformances trend down.
• No incidents tied to guarding, LOTO, or untrained operation; near-misses reported and closed, and EHS and FOD/ESD standards hold across every department.
• Every department has a clear, capable lead and a consistent standard; the floor runs, it isn't managed by exception.
• Handoffs between departments are clean; WIP doesn't stack up waiting on the next operation.
• The Director of Operations trusts the floor without needing to check it daily.

Why Join Helix

At Helix, you'll work in a clean, climate-controlled facility with advanced equipment, alongside machinists, engineers, operators, and commercial team members who take pride in their work and hold themselves to high standards.

We offer a competitive compensation, comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits, a retirement savings plan with company match, and paid time off and company holidays. You'll work in a collaborative, onsite team environment with direct access to engineering and leadership, and real opportunities for professional growth within a growing precision manufacturing company.

If you take pride in solving problems, value craftsmanship and accountability, and want to do work where precision and reliability matter, Helix is a place where that work shows.

Helix Linear Technologies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Due to U.S. export control laws, applicants must be U.S. persons (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident).