VP Manufacturing (Protein)

The Vice President of Manufacturing is responsible for leading and optimizing all manufacturing operations across poultry processing facilities, including live operations interfaces, processing, further processing, and packaging. This executive role sets manufacturing strategy, ensures operational excellence, and drives performance in safety, food safety, quality, cost, service, and employee engagement within a USDA-regulated environment.

Key Responsibilities

Manufacturing Strategy & Execution

• Develop and execute manufacturing strategies aligned with corporate objectives and growth plans

• Lead multi-plant operations to achieve safety, food safety, quality, service, and cost targets

• Ensure alignment between production capacity, demand planning, and commercial commitments

• Drive standardization and best practices across all poultry manufacturing facilities

Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure full compliance with USDA/FSIS regulations, HACCP, GMPs, and customer food safety requirements

• Establish and reinforce a strong food safety culture across all manufacturing operations

• Oversee audit readiness for regulatory, customer, and third-party audits

• Partner with Quality Assurance to maintain robust process controls and continuous improvement

Safety & Environmental Leadership

• Champion a culture of safety and accountability across all operations

• Ensure compliance with OSHA, environmental, and company safety standards

• Review and address safety performance, incidents, and corrective actions at the enterprise level

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on throughput, yields, labor efficiency, and waste reduction

• Lead Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPM, or similar operational excellence programs

• Utilize KPIs and operational dashboards to drive performance and accountability

• Support automation, capital projects, and technology investments

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop plant-level and regional manufacturing leaders

• Build a strong succession pipeline and leadership development framework

• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and high performance

• Partner with HR on workforce planning, labor strategy, and employee engagement

Financial & Capital Management

• Own manufacturing budgets, labor cost controls, and operational expense management

• Support capital planning, ROI analysis, and execution of major capital projects

• Drive margin improvement through operational efficiencies and cost discipline

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Live Production, Sales, Supply Chain, Engineering, Maintenance, and R&D

• Align manufacturing capabilities with customer requirements and innovation initiatives

• Support M&A integration and operational scaling as needed

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Animal Science, or related field

• 15+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience within the poultry or protein industry

• 7+ years in senior or executive manufacturing leadership roles

• Deep knowledge of vertically integrated poultry operations and USDA-regulated processing environments

• Proven track record of leading multi-site manufacturing organizations.