Flex Fab Area Manager- Pontiac Stamping
Onsite: This role is categorized as onsite. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to our Pontiac Stamping plant location
Sponsorship: GM DOES NOT PROVIDE IMMIGRATION-RELATED SPONSORSHIP FOR THIS ROLE. DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS ROLE IF YOU WILL NEED GM IMMIGRATION SPONSORSHIP (e.g., H-1B, TN, STEM OPT, etc.) NOW OR IN THE FUTURE.
The Role:
The Flex Fab Area Manager is responsible for leading day-to-day operations in the Flexible Fabrication (Flex Fab) area at Pontiac Metal Center. This role leads a High Mix- Low volume operation focused on cutting, bending, welding, and secondary operations, on a Smart Manufacturing environment. The Area Manager leads a team of salaried and hourly employees, driving GMS, continuous improvement, flawless launch and daily production for Flex Fab components.
What You'll Do (Responsibilities):
Safety & People
- Own safety performance for the Flex Fab area; drive a zero-incident culture through layered audits, JSAs, JES/SOS adherence, and corrective actions.
- Ensure compliance with GM safety, ergonomic, and environmental standards across all Flex Fab equipment and processes.
- Support staffing, training, and job qualification plans to meet current and future production and launch needs.
Operations Management
- Lead daily Flex Fab production (cutting, bending, welding, secondary operations) to achieve Safety, People, Quality, Responsiveness, Cost, and Environmental (SPQRCE) metrics.
- Own Build-to-Plan and Ship-to-Plan performance, with focus on FTQ, Uptime and customer satisfaction.
- Coordinate resources (people, machines, material) across shifts to maximize uptime and throughput while protecting quality.
- Lead daily/shift huddles meetings to review KPIs, constraints, and countermeasures.
Quality & Launch Readiness
- Ensure robust process controls and documentation (CSPC, MPS, SOS/JES, TIS, PFMEA, PCP, control plans, error-proofing) are in place and followed for all parts.
- Partner with Flex Fab Quality Engineer to resolve issues, support PPAP and SQMS deliverables, and maintain compliance to customer and GM requirements.
- Act as production owner for Flex Fab activities, ensuring readiness for MRD and SORP.
- Support ECR, TWO, and MWO execution in partnership with ME Execution, Product Engineering, and Launch teams to implement changes safely and on time.
GMS & Continuous Improvement
- Champion GMS in the Flex Fab area (Safety, People, Quality, Responsiveness, Cost, Environment), including implementation of standardized work and problem-solving.
- Drive layered process audits, problem-solving (5-Why, Fishbone, etc.), and Kaizen activities to improve safety, quality, uptime, and labor efficiency.
- Support Lean principles in Flex Fab (flow, pull, quick changeover, waste elimination) and align with the broader Flex Fab strategy.
Cross-Functional Leadership & Communication
- Serve as primary engineering, launch and production interface to Flex Fab Launch Lead, ME Flex Fab team, Product Engineering, GSC, IE, Maintenance, and Plant leadership for Flex Fab issues.
- Participate in program and launch reviews (e.g., health checks, production readiness reviews, MRD / SORP readiness) representing Pontiac Flex Fab.
- Provide clear status updates, risk assessments, and recovery plans for issues impacting Safety, Quality, Delivery, or Cost.
Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management or Business
- Demonstrated leadership experience managing hourly workforce and/or front-line leaders.
- Strong problem-solving skills and familiarity with root cause analysis and continuous improvement tools.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment and make timely decisions with incomplete information.
- Effective communication and interpersonal skills to work across functions and levels.
- Proficiency with standard MS Office tools and basic manufacturing systems
- Experience supporting new program launches.
What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications):
- Prior Area Manager / Group Leader / Shift Leader experience in a plant or similar automotive environment.
- Experience in manufacturing operations in a high-mix and low volume fabrication environment
- Experience with laser cutting, press brake bending, robotic welding, or flexible fabrication technologies.
- Demonstrated experience on dealing with ambiguity in fast paced environments
- Familiarity with Flex Fab processes, Smart Factory technologies (AGV, CNC, OLP) and usage of Industry 4.0 tools in manufacturing environments (MES, ASRS, Digital Twins)
- Working knowledge of GMS, Lean manufacturing, PFMEA, and control plan development.
- Experience in other areas expanding across the Product Lifecyle (Product Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Innovation, Launch)
- Demonstrated experience using CAD tools (NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, Teamcenter Visualization)
