We are an Australian manufacturer of premium height-safety access equipment, supplying customers across utilities, mining, construction, aviation, rail, energy, industrial and safety markets.

With an established reputation for quality, innovation and customisation, we are entering an exciting period of growth — with a plan to more than double the business over the next three years and expand its presence across Australia, Europe and the United States.

We are now looking for an experienced Production Manager to take ownership of our Melbourne manufacturing operation and help build the production capability required to support that growth.

This isn't a role where you'll simply inherit a mature system and keep it running.

It's an opportunity to build, improve and lead.

The opportunity

Reporting to the General Manager and working closely with the leadership team, you will have end-to-end responsibility for the production function, including:

- Production planning, scheduling and capacity management

- Fabrication, assembly and manufacturing operations

- Leading and developing a team of approximately 20–25 people

- Building a stronger team-leader structure and culture of accountability

- Implementing SOPs, visual work instructions and measurable production standards

- Driving Lean, continuous improvement and waste reduction initiatives

- Identifying and removing production bottlenecks and constraints

- Improving on-time delivery, productivity, quality and manufacturing efficiency

- Managing equipment, maintenance and production reliability

- Inventory control, purchasing and supplier performance

- Quality, compliance and WHS

- Production budgets, costs and commercial performance

- Improving the use of ERP and production data to drive better decisions

- Supporting automation and robotics initiatives

- Working closely with the broader leadership team to support the growth strategy

You'll be highly visible within the business and on the factory floor, with genuine authority to improve the way the operation works.

What makes this role different?

We already have an excellent product and a strong market reputation.

The opportunity is to build the production system behind it.

You'll be joining at a point where there is significant opportunity to improve scheduling,



capacity, systems, data, cross-training, automation, inventory control and operational discipline.

You will be given the chance to:

Build systems.

Develop people.

Remove constraints.

Introduce better ways of working.

Drive automation.

Improve performance.

And leave your mark on the operation.

What we're looking for

We're looking for a hands-on manufacturing leader who has already demonstrated the ability to take ownership of a production operation and improve it.

You'll ideally bring

- Proven experience managing a manufacturing or production operation end-to-end

- Experience leading supervisors, team leaders and production teams

- Experience in make-to-order, engineered, customised or low-volume/high-variation manufacturing

- Strong production planning, scheduling and capacity-management capability
- A demonstrated track record in Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement

- Experience building production systems, SOPs, KPIs and accountability structures

- Strong commercial understanding of production costs, labour utilisation and budgets
- A genuine commitment to WHS and quality
- The ability to identify bottlenecks and turn them into measurable improvement

- Strong people leadership and coaching capability
- The confidence to establish clear standards and hold people accountable
- The resilience and persistence to lead a sustained improvement journey
- A hands-on, visible leadership style — you enjoy being on the floor, not just behind a desk

Experience with ERP implementation, quality systems, automation/robotics or Australian SME manufacturing will be highly regarded.

A trade or engineering background would also be advantageous.

Experience specifically within height safety or access equipment is not required. We are interested in your manufacturing leadership capability and what you've achieved, rather than simply the products you've worked with.





What success will look like

Over your first 12 months, you'll be expected to make a tangible difference.

Among other things, you'll establish:

- Explicit accountability across the production team

- Reliable production KPIs and reporting

- Consistent SOPs and visual work instructions

- Improved production planning and scheduling

- Better data integrity and ERP utilisation
- A skills matrix and cross-training program

- Improved equipment reliability and capacity utilisation

- Stronger inventory and supplier management

- Measurable improvements in delivery performance, quality and productivity

The broader objective is simple:

Build a production operation capable of supporting our ambitious growth without compromising the quality that has built its reputation.

Why Us?

We are an owner-led Australian business with ambitious international plans.

You'll be joining a company that values:

Excellence | Innovation | Integrity & Respect | Teamwork | Customer Focus | Tenacity & Passion The business operates using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), creating a culture where goals, numbers, accountability and continuous improvement are openly discussed.

This is an environment suited to someone who enjoys ownership, transparency, challenge and making things better.

The person we're looking for

You may currently be a:

Production Manager | Manufacturing Manager | Operations Manager | Plant Manager | Senior Production Leader

Perhaps you've spent the last several years in a larger, highly systemised manufacturer and are now looking for a role where you can have greater influence, broader responsibility and genuine autonomy.

Or perhaps you've already worked in an SME environment and know exactly what it takes to build structure, discipline and capability from the ground up.

Either way, we're interested in what you've actually achieved.

If you are a manufacturing leader who enjoys solving problems, developing people and turning an operation into something significantly better than you found it, we'd like to hear from you.

This could be the defining moment in your career, please contact Stephen Keddie on 0432 010 *** for a confidential discussion and further information.

📌 Production Manager (Rowville)
🏢 Bastion Group
📍 Rowville