Plant Manager - Case Ready Pork

We are partnering with a leading case ready pork manufacturer seeking an experienced Plant Manager to take full operational leadership of a high-volume pork processing facility.

This is a critical leadership position responsible for driving safety, quality, production performance, operational efficiency, employee engagement and financial results across the plant. The successful candidate will be a hands-on operational leader who can build high-performing teams, improve plant performance and consistently deliver against customer and company expectations.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and accountability for day-to-day plant operations, including production, maintenance, quality, safety, sanitation and warehouse functions.
• Develop and execute operational strategies to improve throughput, yield, labor efficiency, OEE and overall plant performance.
• Lead, coach and develop a strong team of plant leadership and hourly employees, creating a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and operational excellence.
• Own plant-level KPIs and financial performance, including labor, yield, waste, overtime, productivity and operating costs.
• Ensure the facility consistently meets all USDA, HACCP, FSQA, food safety and regulatory requirements.
• Partner closely with FSQA to maintain the highest standards of product quality, food safety and customer compliance.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives using Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma or other operational excellence methodologies.
• Work closely with Maintenance and Engineering to improve equipment reliability, preventative maintenance and production uptime.
• Identify opportunities to increase capacity and efficiency while maintaining exceptional safety and quality standards.
• Lead capital improvement projects and support the development and execution of the plant's CAPEX strategy.
• Establish clear performance expectations across the organization and hold leadership teams accountable for results.
• Build strong relationships with corporate leadership, commercial teams, suppliers, customers and other key stakeholders.
• Ensure the plant maintains a strong safety culture, reducing incidents and continuously improving employee safety.
• Support workforce planning, succession planning and leadership development across the facility.

The Ideal Candidate

The successful candidate will be an accomplished Plant Manager or Senior Operations Leader with significant experience within pork, meat, poultry, case ready, further processing or another high-volume protein manufacturing environment.

We are particularly interested in leaders who have demonstrated the ability to:

• Lead a large-scale protein manufacturing facility with significant production volume and workforce size.
• Improve operational performance through yield optimization, labor efficiency, throughput improvements and waste reduction.
• Build and develop high-performing leadership teams.
• Successfully manage complex production environments with multiple shifts and demanding customer requirements.
• Drive measurable continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives.
• Balance people, safety, quality, service and financial performance.
• Lead change effectively within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Operations, Manufacturing, Engineering, Business or a related discipline preferred.
• 7+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
• Previous Plant Manager, Complex Manager, Senior Operations Manager or equivalent experience strongly preferred.
• Strong background within pork, meat, poultry, RTE or other protein manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of USDA, HACCP, GMP and food safety requirements.
• Demonstrated experience managing plant budgets, KPIs and operational P&L performance.
• Proven leadership, communication and team-development capabilities.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma or other continuous improvement methodologies.