Job Description

Our organization is seeking to hire a Finishing Manager to lead and oversee finishing operations within a fast-paced printing and folding carton manufacturing environment. This position will have broad responsibility for the performance, people, processes, quality, and productivity of the finishing department and will play a key leadership role in driving operational excellence.

The Finishing Manager will provide strategic and hands-on leadership across folding, gluing, and related finishing operations, ensuring that production schedules, quality standards, throughput objectives, customer requirements, and financial goals are consistently achieved. This individual will partner closely with Scheduling, Production, Quality, Maintenance, and other departments to optimize workflow and continuously improve overall plant performance.

**Key Responsibilities

**

**Department Leadership & Operations

**

• Provide overall leadership, direction, and accountability for finishing operations, including folding, gluing, and related converting activities.

• Manage department personnel, including performance management, coaching, development, and succession planning.

• Establish priorities, production expectations, and workflow strategies to meet customer requirements and company objectives.

• Oversee day-to-day and shift-to-shift operations while maintaining consistent standards across the department.

• Develop and implement production strategies that maximize equipment utilization, labor efficiency, throughput, and profitability.

• Monitor department performance against key performance indicators, production goals, budgets, and established operating standards.

• Ensure appropriate staffing levels and effectively manage overtime requirements based on production demands.

**Production Planning & Workflow

**

• Collaborate with Scheduling and Production leadership to review upcoming work and develop efficient production plans.

• Review job specifications, job bags, customer requirements, special instructions, and technical considerations before work enters production.

• Establish workflow priorities based on schedule requirements, equipment capabilities, labor availability, and customer commitments.

• Proactively identify bottlenecks and implement solutions to improve workflow and on-time delivery.

• Coordinate with upstream and downstream departments to ensure efficient movement of work throughout the manufacturing process.

• Balance competing production priorities while maintaining focus on safety, quality, service, cost, and throughput.

**Quality & Customer Requirements

**

• Maintain accountability for finished-product quality and ensure department standards are consistently met.

• Establish and reinforce quality expectations throughout the finishing operation.

• Review completed work and address quality issues, rework, waste, and customer concerns.

• Partner with Quality and Operations teams to investigate root causes and implement corrective and preventive actions.

• Ensure employees understand and follow job specifications, customer requirements, company procedures, and applicable regulations.

• Support a culture of accountability and continuous improvement focused on customer satisfaction.

**People Leadership & Development

**

• Lead, coach, and develop leads, operators, and other finishing personnel.

• Establish clear performance expectations and provide regular feedback and performance evaluations.

• Identify training needs and ensure employees receive appropriate technical, operational, and safety training.

• Address employee relations and performance issues in accordance with company policies and established guidelines.

• Foster a professional, collaborative, accountable, and safety-focused department culture.

**Continuous Improvement & Financial Performance

**

• Identify and implement opportunities to improve productivity, reduce waste, increase throughput, and lower operating costs.

• Utilize the company's management and production systems to monitor performance, analyze trends, and make data-driven decisions.

• Establish and track meaningful department metrics and use results to drive operational improvements.

• Evaluate equipment capabilities, maintenance requirements, staffing models, and process improvements.

• Partner with Maintenance to ensure equipment reliability, preventative maintenance, and efficient equipment utilization.

• Evaluate capital equipment and technology needs and make recommendations to senior leadership.

• Develop and implement standard operating procedures and process improvements where appropriate.

• Promote Lean manufacturing principles, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement throughout the finishing operation.

**Leadership & Decision-Making Authority

**

The Finishing Manager will have significant responsibility for the day-to-day leadership and performance of the finishing department and will make recommendations regarding staffing, personnel actions, equipment, overtime, workflow, and process improvements.

This individual will work closely with senior operations leadership to establish department objectives, production priorities, staffing strategies, capital requirements, and continuous improvement initiatives.

**Qualifications

**

• **8+ years of progressive experience in the printing, converting, folding carton, or related manufacturing industry

  **, with substantial experience in finishing operations.

• **5+ years of management or progressive leadership experience

  **, preferably managing a finishing, converting, folding/gluing, or related manufacturing department.

• Thorough knowledge of printing, finishing, folding, gluing, and folding carton manufacturing processes.

• Demonstrated ability to lead a department, manage multiple priorities, and drive production performance in a high-volume manufacturing environment.

• Strong understanding of production planning, scheduling, workflow optimization, quality systems, labor utilization, and manufacturing performance metrics.

• Proven experience developing employees, managing performance, and building effective production teams.

• Demonstrated ability to identify operational problems, analyze root causes, and implement sustainable solutions.

• Strong financial and business acumen, including the ability to understand budgets, labor costs, productivity, waste, throughput, and other operational metrics.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with employees, leadership, customers, vendors, and other business stakeholders.

• Strong mathematical and analytical skills, including the ability to work with measurements, percentages, proportions, production rates, costs, and other operational calculations.

• Demonstrated ability to define problems, collect and analyze data, establish facts, draw conclusions, and make sound operational decisions.

• Ability to interpret technical instructions, diagrams, specifications, and other complex manufacturing documentation.

• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven production environment.

• Ability and willingness to work a flexible schedule, including occasional extended hours, weekends, or off-shift coverage as business needs require.

**What We're Looking For

**

The ideal candidate is a proven manufacturing leader who combines deep finishing expertise with strong business judgment and people leadership. This individual should be comfortable working on the production floor, analyzing performance data, developing department strategy, holding teams accountable, and partnering with other leaders to solve complex operational challenges.

The successful Finishing Manager will be both a strategic leader and an engaged presence on the manufacturing floor, with the ability to translate company objectives into measurable improvements in safety, quality, productivity, cost, employee development, and customer satisfaction.

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals. Employment decisions are made based on qualifications, experience, skills, and business needs, without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, citizenship status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. 

You should be proficient in:

• Folding Gluing
• Folding Gluer