Operator Academy Lead/Training Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Operator Academy Lead / Training Manager

Build the training engine behind the next generation of American manufacturing.

What if you could walk into a fast-growing manufacturing operation and build the operator training program from the ground up — creating the curriculum, setting the standards, developing the talent, and ultimately helping determine how the operation scales?

That’s the opportunity.

We are looking for an Operator Academy Lead / Training Manager to create and lead a high-performance training program for a rapidly scaling advanced manufacturing operation. This is more than a traditional training role. You’ll be responsible for developing the systems, curriculum, assessments, and coaching practices that turn new hires into highly capable, quality-focused production operators.

The goal is ambitious: develop dozens of skilled technicians each week while continuously improving productivity, quality, and operator capability as the operation scales.

The Opportunity

As Operator Academy Lead, you will own the end-to-end operator development experience — from a new employee’s first day through hands-on training, assessment, certification, and transition into production.

You’ll work at the intersection of manufacturing, training, quality, technology, and continuous improvement , ensuring that operators are equipped with both the technical skills and process discipline required to succeed in a high-speed production environment.

This is an ideal opportunity for someone who enjoys building rather than maintaining , thrives in a fast-paced environment, and knows how to translate complex manufacturing processes into practical, repeatable training.

What You’ll Do

Build & Lead the Operator Academy

• Design, develop, and continuously improve a weekly Operator Academy curriculum.
• Create hands-on training covering equipment operation, process/HMI fundamentals, wire processing, assembly, and quality requirements.
• Develop training around smart manufacturing workflows, digital work instructions, formboard processes, defect identification, and troubleshooting.
• Establish a structured progression from foundational skills through a complete reference-harness build and final certification.
• Create a repeatable onboarding and training experience that can scale with rapidly increasing production needs.

Establish Certification & Quality Standards

• Define clear skills matrices, assessment criteria, testing requirements, and graduation standards.
• Develop a consistent certification process that ensures operators are truly production-ready before entering the floor.
• Incorporate IPC/WHMA-A-620 quality principles into hands-on training and operator assessments.
• Identify common defects and training gaps and build them directly into the curriculum.

Scale the Workforce

• Develop the training capacity required to support rapid workforce expansion.
• Build systems capable of graduating dozens of qualified technicians per week .
• Continuously improve training efficiency without compromising quality or technical competency.
• Help prepare the workforce for production environments capable of supporting hundreds of harnesses per day .

Drive Continuous Improvement

• Benchmark operator productivity, quality, and first-pass yield.
• Use production data and trainee performance to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Feed lessons learned back into standard work, digital work instructions, and the training curriculum.
• Partner closely with process and automation engineers to ensure training reflects the actual, optimized production process.
• Continuously refine the Academy based on operator feedback, production results, and evolving processes.

What You Bring

• 4+ years of experience in manufacturing training, workforce development, production supervision, or a similar environment.
• Hands-on experience with wire harness, cable assembly, electromechanical, or comparable manufacturing processes preferred.
• Working knowledge of wire preparation, crimping, assembly, routing, and electrical testing.
• Knowledge of IPC/WHMA-A-620 standards; quality certification is strongly preferred.
• Strong instructional design, coaching, facilitation, and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to take complex processes and turn them into clear, practical, repeatable training.
• Experience creating or significantly improving a training program, curriculum, skills matrix, or certification process.
• Ability to work effectively with operators, engineers, quality professionals, and production leadership.
• A hands-on leadership style and willingness to spend significant time on the production floor.

Especially Valuable

• Lean manufacturing or continuous-improvement experience.
• Experience supporting a rapidly growing manufacturing operation.
• Experience scaling a workforce during a significant production ramp.
• Familiarity with digital work instructions, manufacturing technology, automation, or connected production systems.
• Experience measuring training effectiveness through productivity, quality, first-pass yield, or other operational metrics.

Why This Role Matters

This role will have a direct impact on how quickly and effectively the operation can scale.

You won’t simply be delivering training — you’ll be building the system that develops the people who make the operation possible.

If you’re energized by building something new, developing people, improving manufacturing performance, and creating a training program that can scale from its first class to hundreds of production operators, this is an opportunity to make a significant impact.

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