Assistant Production Manager

• Company Overview: De Jong DUKE is based in Allen Park, Michigan. We are an innovative, family-owned Dutch company. Since 1957, the company has been successfully designing, engineering, manufacturing, and marketing coffee and espresso equipment for the Office Coffee and Vending market. With manufacturing facilities in the US and the Netherlands, de Jong DUKE has built a strong reputation as a loyal and responsive supplier of quality products with reliable performance. The organization can be characterized as passionate, committed, quality-focused, and customer-oriented. Please visit our website at www.dejongduke.com.

Job Summary:

The position reports directly to the Operations Manager. The Assistant Production Manager is responsible for supporting production operations within a medium-sized light assembly facility. This role directly supervises 10–30 employees, ensuring that operations are efficient, safe, and cost-effective and align with production schedules, organizational goals, and customer requirements. The Assistant Production Manager serves as a key leader on the production floor, providing hands-on guidance, maintaining shift continuity, and driving accountability at the team level. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Directly supervise 10–30 employees across assigned shifts, including assigning tasks, hiring support, onboarding, performance coaching, and disciplinary actions in coordination with HR
• Lead daily production activities across multiple shifts, ensuring output targets and quality standards are met
• Monitor real-time production metrics including output rates, labor efficiency, downtime, scrap, and capacity utilization; escalate issues to the Operations Manager as needed
• Enforce quality standards and ensure compliance with internal procedures and customer specifications; document and initiate corrective and preventive actions for defects, scrap, and rework
• Conduct regular one-on-ones, team meetings, and shift briefings to communicate goals, recognize performance, and address concerns
• Participate in and support continuous improvement initiatives (Lean, 5S, waste reduction, process optimization) within assigned shift and work areas
• Identify and communicate operational bottlenecks; implement immediate solutions and escalate systemic issues to the Operations Manager when necessary
• Conduct safety observations, incident investigations, and corrective follow-ups; promote a proactive safety culture among all direct reports
• Support management of operating costs at the shift level, including labor hours, overtime utilization, and material usage; flag variances and inefficiencies to the Operations Manager
• Train direct reports on updated standard operating procedures (SOPs) and ensure consistent adherence to safe tool use
• Ensure thorough documentation and verbal transfer of production status, open issues, and priorities during shift change
• Address issues related to production delays, quality, employee concerns, or shipment discrepancies, escalating to the Operations Manager when necessary

Qualifications:

• High school diploma required
• Experience coordinating projects across multiple departments
• Understanding of lean manufacturing principles
• Minimum of 2 years of manufacturing or production experience
• Proven track record of supervising teams and managing conflict effectively
• Proficiency with ERP software and Microsoft Office suite
• Proficient time management skills
• Bachelor’s Degree encouraged

Supervisory responsibilities Assistant Production Managers coordinate supervision of 10-30 employees Physical demands Ability to lift up to 40 pounds Some physical demand for annual physical inventory counting Walking the production floor, warehouse, or other supplier operations

Travel required Local travel is required >5% International travel - Limited Shift Required flexibility to supervise day, night, or weekend shift as needed.

Other duties Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.