Vice President of Operations - Poultry Industry

Position Summary

The Vice President of Operations provides strategic and operational leadership across all poultry processing facilities (live operations, hatcheries, feed mills, slaughter, evisceration, further processing, packaging, and distribution). This role is accountable for driving operational excellence, ensuring regulatory compliance, optimizing production performance, and leading multi-site operational teams. The VP partners closely with executive leadership to develop long-term strategies, support growth initiatives, and ensure the company meets its goals for quality, safety, yield, and profitability.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and implement a holistic operations strategy aligned with corporate goals for efficiency, quality, animal welfare, cost reduction, and growth.

• Lead multi-plant operational performance, including throughput, yield, labor efficiency, uptime, cost structure, and customer service levels.

• Guide long-term capacity planning, capital investments, and modernization/automation initiatives.

• Drive the company's continuous improvement culture across all operational divisions.

Operational Excellence & Performance Management

• Oversee daily and long-term performance of all processing complexes: live production, hatcheries, feed mills, slaughter/evisceration, further processing, and packaging.

• Champion standardization of best practices, SOPs, and operating playbooks across all facilities.

• Monitor KPI dashboards for yield, labor productivity, downtime, safety performance, animal welfare, and quality compliance.

• Ensure operational readiness for customer audits, regulatory inspections, and internal quality reviews.

Regulatory Compliance & Food Safety

• Ensure operations comply with USDA regulations, FSIS guidelines, HACCP, SSOPs, GMPs, and other federal, state, and local requirements.

• Partner with Food Safety & Quality Assurance leadership to uphold high standards of product integrity, traceability, and audit preparedness.

• Oversee compliance in areas such as animal welfare, environmental sustainability, biosecurity, and occupational safety.

People Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead and mentor plant managers, live operations directors, engineering heads, and continuous improvement leaders.

• Develop future operational leaders through succession planning and structured talent development programs.

• Promote a culture of accountability, teamwork, and empowerment throughout the organization.

• Drive employee engagement, workforce stability, and leadership alignment across all facilities.

Safety, Animal Welfare & Sustainability

• Champion a safety-first culture across all production sites, ensuring OSHA compliance and robust EHS programs.

• Ensure humane handling and animal welfare standards are met consistently from live operations through processing.

• Support corporate sustainability initiatives including energy reduction, waste minimization, and resource stewardship.

Capital Planning & Infrastructure Management

• Develop and manage annual capital expenditure (CAPEX) plans for equipment upgrades, facility expansions, and modernization.

• Lead major engineering/automation projects to improve efficiency and reduce labor dependency.

• Oversee maintenance and reliability strategies to maximize equipment uptime and asset life.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Supply Chain, Sales, Finance, HR, Food Safety, and Engineering to support enterprise-wide alignment.

• Collaborate with customer-facing teams to meet order fulfillment, product consistency, and service requirements.

• Engage with vendors, technology providers, and industry partners to support innovation and competitiveness.