Plant Manager (FP-Cooked)

Position Summary

Our client is a leading food manufacturing organization seeking an experienced Plant Manager to lead all aspects of a high-volume production facility. This individual will be responsible for driving operational excellence across manufacturing, food safety, quality, maintenance, warehousing, and continuous improvement while fostering a culture focused on safety, accountability, and employee engagement.

The Plant Manager will provide strategic and operational leadership to ensure production targets, quality standards, customer expectations, and financial objectives are consistently achieved.

Key Responsibilities

Operations Leadership

• Lead all day-to-day manufacturing operations to achieve safety, quality, service, and cost objectives.
• Develop and execute operational strategies that support business growth and customer demand.
• Ensure production schedules are achieved while maximizing efficiency and minimizing downtime.
• Monitor and improve key performance indicators (KPIs), including productivity, yield, labor efficiency, waste, and equipment effectiveness (OEE).
• Drive operational excellence through Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives.

Food Safety & Quality

• Champion a culture of food safety and quality throughout the facility.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable food safety regulations and customer requirements.
• Maintain adherence to HACCP, GMP, SQF/BRC (or equivalent), sanitation, allergen control, and regulatory standards.
• Support successful internal, customer, and third-party audits.

Safety & Compliance

• Promote a zero-incident safety culture across the plant.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA (or applicable local safety regulations), environmental standards, and company policies.
• Lead safety initiatives, risk assessments, incident investigations, and corrective action programs.

Financial Performance

• Develop and manage plant operating budgets.
• Drive cost reduction initiatives while maintaining product quality and customer service.
• Monitor labor costs, material usage, maintenance spend, and capital investments.
• Identify opportunities to improve profitability through process optimization.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop department managers and supervisors.
• Build high-performing teams through effective recruitment, succession planning, and performance management.
• Foster employee engagement, accountability, and a positive workplace culture.
• Partner with Human Resources on workforce planning and employee relations.

Maintenance & Engineering

• Ensure preventative and predictive maintenance programs are effectively executed.
• Support capital projects, equipment upgrades, and facility improvements.
• Maximize equipment reliability and plant uptime.

Supply Chain & Customer Service

• Collaborate with Planning, Procurement, Logistics, and Customer Service to ensure customer requirements are met.
• Maintain inventory accuracy and warehouse efficiency.
• Support new product introductions and capacity planning.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and process improvement initiatives.
• Utilize data and operational metrics to identify improvement opportunities.
• Promote a culture of innovation and problem-solving across the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, Business, or a related discipline preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience within food manufacturing or other regulated consumer goods industries.
• Previous experience leading a large manufacturing facility with responsibility for multiple departments.
• Strong understanding of food safety systems, quality management, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven experience managing plant budgets and operational performance.
• Experience implementing Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPM, or similar continuous improvement methodologies.
• Strong knowledge of ERP/MRP systems and production planning.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and change management skills.