Production Control Manager

Xylem is a Fortune 500 global water solutions company dedicated to advancing sustainable impact and empowering the people who make water work every day. As a leading water technology company with 23,000 employees operating in over 150 countries, Xylem is at the forefront of addressing the world's most critical water challenges. We invite passionate individuals to join our team, dedicated to exceeding customer expectations through innovative and sustainable solutions.

The Production Control Manager serves as the strategic “control tower” for all production readiness activities across multiple engineer‑to‑order (ETO) and make‑to‑order (MTO) value streams—including machining, welding, fabrication, assembly, and test. This role ensures every work order is fully ready to build—technically, materially, and operationally—before it hits the shop floor. As stated in the document, the role is responsible for “owning production control across multiple engineer to order (ETO) and make to order (MTO) value streams” and “ensuring all work orders are fully ready to build…before release to the shop floor.”

This position is ideal for a highly analytical, influential, and operations‑savvy professional who thrives in fast‑paced, complex manufacturing environments.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Production Control & Clear-to-Build Ownership

• Own the Clear-to-Build (CTB) process for all ETO/MTO orders, ensuring engineering releases, BOM accuracy, routings, special instructions, and material availability are complete prior to release.
• Enforce CTB readiness gates and prevent the release of incomplete or unready work orders.
• Maintain the daily plan-of-record, aligning machining, welding, assembly, and test activities with the Master Production Schedule.
• Lead CTB / production readiness meetings, identifying risks, assigning actions, and confirming build priorities.
• Hold Planning, Engineering, Purchasing, and Operations accountable for closing CTB gaps.

Advanced Planning & Value Stream Coordination

• Partner with Planners and Master Schedulers to develop realistic, achievable schedules across variable routing environments.
• Validate capacity and resource availability across machining centers, welding operations, skilled labor, tooling, and assembly cells.
• Collaborate with Engineering on drawing releases, deviations, rework paths, and changes impacting open orders.
• Work with Purchasing and Supply Chain to resolve shortages of custom components, long‑lead items, and engineered parts.
• Monitor MRP exceptions, planning parameters, and demand changes to maintain production flow.

Shop Floor Engagement

• Maintain a strong daily presence on the shop floor to track progress, validate readiness, and remove blockers.
• Partner with Supervisors and Leads to sequence work, resolve constraints, and ensure work orders advance through routing steps on time.
• Ensure accurate work order transactions (labor reporting, completions, backflushes, moves) to support data integrity.

Analytics, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Develop dashboards and reporting (Excel/Power BI) tracking CTB readiness, shortages, WIP levels, queue times, capacity constraints, and schedule adherence.
• Provide early warning signals and perform scenario analysis for material constraints, engineering delays, equipment issues, or capacity overloads.
• Lead targeted CI activities (A3s, Kaizens, root cause analysis) focused on improving flow, reducing shortages, and eliminating recurring disruptors.
• Support PFEP improvements, kanban/supermarket development, and enhanced visual management across value streams.

Cross-Functional Influence

• Act as the authoritative voice of production control, ensuring alignment across Planning, Purchasing, Engineering, Quality, and Operations.
• Facilitate issue resolution related to materials, engineering changes, quality holds, or capacity.
• Communicate risks clearly and propose recovery plans with data-driven recommendations.
• Demonstrate leadership presence and influence while operating as a high-performing individual contributor.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong understanding of ETO/MTO manufacturing workflows (machining, welding, fabricating, assembly).
• Advanced planning capability with the ability to manage complex, custom orders.
• High analytical skills: expert Excel required, Power BI preferred.
• Working knowledge of Lean principles and flow optimization.
• Ability to influence without authority and drive accountability across functions.
• Excellent communication