Plant Operations Manager in Charleroi, Pennsylvania at Pennsylvania Food Corporation

The Plant Operations Manager is responsible for leading end-to-end food manufacturing operations at a single U.S. production facility. This role functions as the senior plant-level manufacturing manager with direct accountability for daily production operations, site performance, and personnel. This role has full accountability for food safety, employee safety, quality, service, cost, and people performance, and plays a critical role in scaling manufacturing capability, driving operational excellence, and supporting commercial growth in a regulated food environment.

The Plant Operations Manager leads a multidisciplinary leadership team and ensures strict alignment with company strategy, customer expectations, and all applicable FDA, USDA (if applicable), FSMA, and customer regulatory requirements. The Plant Operations Manager operates under general oversight from the COO, while maintaining autonomous authority over plant-level manufacturing operations.

● Own plant-level P&L performance as it relates to manufacturing operations at the assigned site, including labor, overhead, productivity, and variable costs.

● Plan, direct, and coordinate plant manufacturing activities, including production scheduling, staffing, materials, sanitation, and quality assurance, to meet cost, quality, and delivery targets.

● Ensure consistent achievement of Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Morale (SQDCM) targets.

● Translate company strategy into plant-specific operating plans and production execution priorities.

● Lead daily, weekly, and monthly operating rhythms including KPI reviews, production meetings, and performance escalations.

● Directly manage and evaluate plant leadership team members, including hiring recommendations, performance management, disciplinary actions, and succession planning.

● Establish goals, priorities, and accountability standards for plant leadership team members and their subordinate teams.

● Serve as the site owner for food safety and quality systems, ensuring compliance with FDA/FSMA regulations, GMPs, HACCP, allergen control, traceability, and sanitation standards.

● Champion a strong employee safety and food safety culture, with zero tolerance for unsafe or non-compliant behaviors.

● Ensure ongoing readiness for customer, regulatory, and third-party audits (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000, or equivalent).

● Partner closely with QA and Sanitation leadership to drive corrective actions, preventive controls, and continuous improvement of food safety systems.

● Lead incident response for food safety deviations, customer complaints, holds, recalls, and corrective action plans when required.

● Oversee production execution to meet customer service levels, food safety requirements, and schedule attainment in a multi-shift food manufacturing environment.

● Ensure strict adherence to process controls, batch integrity, allergen segregation, and label accuracy.

● Drive Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) improvements through reliability, preventive maintenance, sanitation effectiveness, and root cause problem solving.

● Ensure effective capacity planning, labor deployment, line balancing, and

sanitation/changeover optimization to minimize downtime and risk.

● Lead maintenance strategy for food manufacturing assets, ensuring equipment design and upkeep meet hygienic design and food safety standards.

● Ensure preventive and predictive maintenance programs do not compromise sanitation or product safety.

● Own critical spare parts strategy and uptime commitments for high-risk and bottleneck equipment.

● Support capital projects related to automation, food safety risk reduction, capacity expansion, and facility improvements.

● Embed Lean manufacturing principles tailored to food manufacturing, including standard work, 5S, Kaizen, SMED, and TPM.

● Lead cross-functional improvement initiatives focused on yield improvement, waste reduction, labor efficiency, sanitation effectiveness, and food safety risk mitigation.

● Establish a data-driven culture using KPIs, dashboards, and structured problem-solving tools tied to SQDC and food safety metrics.

● Ensure robust production planning and scheduling aligned with demand forecasts, shelf-life constraints, allergen controls, and inventory targets.

● Direct plant-level inventory and warehouse operations, including setting and controlling raw material, work-in-process, and finished goods inventory levels to support production schedules, food safety, and cost targets.

● Oversee warehouse execution, including raw material segregation, temperature control (if applicable), FIFO/FEFO compliance, inventory accuracy, and shipping performance.

● Drive improvements in material flow, inventory turns, and working capital efficiency while maintaining food safety and traceability standards.

● Build, coach, and develop a high-performing leadership team.

● Set clear expectations, accountability, and performance management standards.

● Partner with HR on workforce planning, talent development, succession planning, and employee engagement.

● Foster a culture of ownership, transparency, and continuous improvement.

● Partner closely with Sales, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and Finance to align operational execution with business needs.

● Serve as the primary site leader for customer interactions, audits, and key operational reviews.

● Support new product introductions, customer onboarding, and scale-up activities.