Production Manager

OUR COMPANY:

GATX Corporation, founded in 1898, is the leading global railcar lessor. Our competitive advantage is our full-service leasing business model, including a world-class railcar maintenance network. One of 7 maintenance facilities across North America, our Moose Jaw, Alberta Service Center provides a full array of services, including repairing, qualifying, painting, cleaning, and blasting railcars. GATX searches for extraordinary individuals who are creative, intuitive, driven, intellectually curious, and eager to join a dynamic organization where high-quality work, collaboration, and dedication are vital parts of our corporate culture.

Position Purpose

Reporting to the Service Center Manger, the Production Manager directs railcar production for the Service Center. Ensures a safe working environment in which employees perform high quality work in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Directs and mentors frontline supervisors to lead skilled labor employees to meet or exceed key performance indicators: safety, quality, production and cost. This individual is also expected to look at production through the lens of continuous improvement, always looking for ways to maximize production efficiency.

GATX offers excellent benefits:

• Competitive salaries and growth opportunities
• Eligible for annual 12.5% target bonus based on company and personal performance
• Retirement plans with company contributions up to 9% of salary
• Fringe Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance) at no cost to the employee
• Generous paid time off
• Great working environment, with a strong focus on an employee-centered company culture

Scope of Work:

This position will interact with all employees including upper management, safety, human resources, quality, maintenance and corporate representatives, customers and vendors. The impact of this position on the business is very important as it ensures that daily safety, quality, production, environmental, and cost goals are achieved.  The person in this position will have a high level of interaction with union employees throughout the daily schedule. The decisions made by the person filling this position are of a highly technical nature in the mid range of complexity and independent judgment as relates to railcar repair/maintenance. This position’s primary functions are conducted in accordance with established policy and principles. This position supervises both union and salaried employees.

Key Job Activities:

1. Manages the supervisors over the union workforce in the repair and servicing of the GATX fleet and foreign cars in accordance with established quality control, engineering, safety, and customer standards while complying with established repair schedules.  Adapts workforce and schedules to accommodate emergency repair situations.
2. Provides clear, proactive leadership to direct reports to create and foster a sense of urgency that embraces positive change.
3. Develops, articulates, and installs clear performance goals and measures and provides timely feedback.
4. Oversees training and development to ensure team has the requisite skills to achieve company goals.
5. Develops new and more efficient repair methods; reviews repair patterns and recommends changes in design or manufacturing to assure longer car life.  Solves difficult and complex repair problems.
6. Ensures that workforce is managed so that measured categories meet or exceed budgeted goals and standards, i.e., costs, labor hours, delays, cross-over, etc.   May schedule cars into the facility and strategically locates cars to ensure more efficient production.
7. Ensures the appropriate applications of quality standards, safety rules as well as other plant work rules as defined by the company.  Completes required documentation in a thorough and timely fashion.  If appropriate, initiates corrective action where necessary.

Education and/or Experience Required (including certifications):

• High school diploma or equivalent; bachelor’s degree in Business or Management or completion of a course of study at an accredited Vocational Technical Institution in a related technical field combined with industry knowledge preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years experience in fast paced production environment with preferably minimum of 4 years supervisory experience in a union environment.
• Functional knowledge of modern manufacturing/operations techniques such as “lean manufacturing”, Kaizen, Six Sigma, etc.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as IO instructions, FM instructions, work orders, AAR Field Manual.

Key Competencies (non-technical behavioral skills, i.e. presentation, negotiation, customer service skills), in priority order.  Select from “key competencies for job descriptions” list:

• Ability to develop and mentor others
• Ability to develop and foster a respectful and inclusive work environment
• Results Driven
• Problem-Solving
• Team Building
• Technical Expertise
• Organizational Impact
• Customer Focus
• Effective interpersonal and communications skills, with the ability to communicate at all levels of the organization
• Computer Skills

Other (i.e., physical requirements, travel, etc. that is not covered above):

• Physical ability to inspect car repair activities.
• Intermittent travel (less than 5%)

NOTE: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job.  They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified.