UNITRON CONTROLS MANAGER OVERVIEW

Barney's Pumps is a third-generation, family-owned company with 110 employees in its 76th of operation. We strive to preserve our family-oriented culture while operating on the values of "Teamwork, Achievement, and Better Every Day". Our business is growing rapidly and looking for a Unitron Controls Manager. You will earn $90,000+ annually plus health benefits and an annual bonus while leading our industrial electrical panel production team on-site in Lakeland, Florida with operating hours Mon-Fri from 8 am - 5 pm. Relocation assistance is negotiable.

UNITRON CONTROLS MANAGER POSITION SUMMARY:

This position is directly responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and operational effectiveness of the Unitron Controls® department. This role oversees the design, estimating, scheduling, production, quality, and delivery of industrial control panels, manufactured in Unitron Controls®.

The manager is accountable for building and maintaining a high-performing department that delivers accurate designs, reliable products, efficient production, and strong support to Sales and customers. This position balances daily operational leadership with process improvement, staff development, production planning, and growth of the controls business.

UNITRON CONTROLS MANAGER KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Department Leadership:

• Provide leadership, direction, and accountability for the Unitron Controls® team.
• Maintain a department culture built on high competency, high character, teamwork, achievement, and continuous improvement.
• Perform hiring, onboarding, training, and succession planning for key department roles.
• Coach, develop, and evaluate department personnel with clear expectations for performance, quality, communication, and professional conduct.
• Identify staffing needs and make recommendations to support current workload and future growth.
• Promote a problem-solving culture that reduces dependency on crisis management and improves department self-sufficiency.
• Develop departmental annual and multi-year plan for major planned expenditures (MPE) and oversee execution of MPE items throughout the year.

Operational Management:

• Oversee the daily operations of the department, including estimating, design, scheduling, production, testing, and order completion requirements.
• Monitor order backlog, submittal backlog, production output, labor capacity, and build efficiency.
• Coordinate priorities across design, purchasing, scheduling, and production to maintain project flow.
• Ensure production schedules are realistic, visible, and aligned with material availability and labor capacity.
• Review department workload and adjust priorities as needed to meet customer and company needs.
• Identify bottlenecks, recurring issues, and process gaps that affect delivery, quality, or profitability.
• Support escalation and resolution of project, production, or customer issues.

Design, Estimating, and Project Oversight:

• Oversee the estimating and design process for custom control panel projects.
• Ensure quotes, submittals, bills of material, schematics, layouts, and production documentation are accurate and complete.
• Support Controls Designer & Project Managers (DPMs) with technical decisions, project prioritization, and workload balancing.
• Maintain consistency in design standards, documentation practices, and production handoff requirements.
• Help ensure projects are reviewed for scope, cost, risk, labor expectations, and customer requirements.
• Coordinate with Sales and customers when needed to clarify scope, expectations, and technical requirements.

Production and Quality Oversight:

• Oversee production performance, labor usage, and build efficiency against established time goals.
• Work with production leadership to improve workflow, reduce wasted time, and increase consistency.
• Support quality control, functional testing, and corrective action processes.
• Ensure panels are built in accordance with approved drawings, customer specifications, internal standards, and applicable codes.
• Promote practical improvements in layout, wiring, documentation, material handling, and build methods.
• Review recurring errors or rework trends and lead efforts to prevent repeat issues.

Process Improvement and Systems Development:

• Develop, maintain, and improve department procedures, standards, checklists, and workflows.
• Identify opportunities to standardize repeatable work and reduce unnecessary variation.
• Improve systems for estimating, scheduling, production documentation, labor tracking, and performance reporting.
• Lead continuous improvement (Better Every Day) initiatives focused on quality, efficiency, throughput, and employee capability.
• Use department metrics to identify trends, communicate issues, and guide decision-making.
• Support the long-term development of scalable systems that allow the department to operate effectively without excessive reliance on individual knowledge or daily intervention.

Cross-Department Coordination:

• Serve as the primary leadership contact between Unitron Controls® and other departments, including Sales, Engineering, Integration, Purchasing, Field Service, Accounting, HR, and Executive Leadership.
• Communicate department capacity, constraints, risks, and priorities clearly to internal stakeholders.
• Support Sales with technical clarification, project feasibility, lead time expectations, and customer-facing issues.
• Coordinate with Purchasing to support material planning, vendor communication, and component availability.
• Work with Field Service to address startup issues, warranty concerns, and product improvement opportunities.
• Provide clear and timely updates to leadership regarding department performance, risks, and resource needs.

Financial and Performance Accountability:

• Monitor department performance against production goals, labor expectations, backlog, and efficiency metrics.
• Review project performance to identify margin risks, estimating gaps, production inefficiencies, and process weaknesses.
• Support pricing, labor goal development, and cost control efforts.
• Attend various onsite and offsite manager meetings where monthly financial reports are analyzed.
• Develop, present, and provide regular reporting on department activity, backlog, KPIs, staffing, and improvement initiatives.
• Make recommendations to improve profitability, capacity, quality, and customer satisfaction.

Supervisory Responsibilities of:

7 Direct Reports and a 13 Indirect Reports

• Controls Designer and Project Managers
• Production Scheduler
• Design and Production Assistant
• Shop Supervisor
• Panel Builders - (Indirect Leader)
• Quality Control / Functional Test Technician - (Indirect Leader)

TRAVEL:

• Occasional travel is required as a manager, including travel with the Outside Sales team for high-value sales calls.

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, or related and sufficient experience required.

UNITRON CONTROLS MANAGER WORK EXPERIENCE:

• Experience managing custom electrical manufacturing or panel shop operations.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in industrial control panel applications including pump control panels, lift station controls and instrumentation, VFDs, soft starters, telemetry, PLCs, and SCADA applications.
• Familiarity with Prophet 21 or similar ERP systems.
• Experience developing procedures, training systems, production standards, and department-level KPIs.
• Experience with estimating, labor time goals, project costing, and production efficiency analysis.

UNITRON CONTROLS MANAGER LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS:

• Possess or be able to achieve Certificate of Training for UL508A and UL698A within 6 months
• Possess or be able to achieve UL 508A MTR Certification within 1 year
• FL Electrical Contractors license is a plus

UNITRON CONTROLS MANAGER SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Strong leadership, communication, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to manage both people and processes in a custom manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of industrial control panel design and production.
• Ability to interpret electrical schematics, layouts, bills of material, and technical specifications.
• Strong understanding of UL508A and UL698A control panel standards, electrical codes, PLC/HMI programming, and industrial control components.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and competing demands.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify root causes and implement practical solutions.
• Possess strong public speaking and presentation skills
• Be a subject matter expert on controls and present departmental capabilities in a Sales presentations or in-house training classes.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to develop and use departmental KPIs to guide decisions and communicate department status.
• Proficiency with relevant software systems such as AutoCAD (including Electrical), ERP/MRP systems, and Microsoft Office.

Pay: From $90,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Vision insurance

Experience:

• VFDs, PLCs, SCADA : 5 years (Required)
• industrial control panel applications - pump control panels: 5 years (Preferred)
• Electrical Manufacturing Management: 3 years (Preferred)

Work Location: In person