Plant Manager at Rise Baking Company, LLC – Manteno, Illinois

Job Purpose

Direct plant operations with overall responsibility for production, maintenance, quality, safety, warehousing, sanitation, and other production-related activities. Provide overall leadership for the production facility in accordance with company’s mission and core values.

Essential Functions

• Implement, lead, and manage effective controls that ensure employee and consumer safety, eliminate the variability that affects desired product quality, guarantee assets are maintained at base condition, and sustain 100% customer focus
• Utilize zero loss mindset to understand opportunities and prioritize resources accordingly
• Establish clear, visual goals and accountabilities and set the strategic direction for the facility aligned with company’s mission and core values; build and maintain a multi-year plan
• Analyze production reports including: production results, downtime, yields, and labor/overtime to develop improvement plans; ensure effective plans and processes to support those plans are in place and appropriate actions taken to continuously improve performance
• Develop a capital plan and appropriate justification for the facility to improve safety, quality, costs, productivity, and delivery as well as support company growth initiatives
• Set high objectives and standards of performance for direct reports and ensure the same for every employee in the facility to meet and exceed goals
• Apply TPM and Lean manufacturing principles to improve operational systems, processes, and policies in support of exceeding organizational and departmental goals
• Implement effective systems and processes by working with all departments and areas to align resources that deliver against business requirements in the areas of cost, financial controls, quality, safety, and business initiatives
• Communicate in a timely manner all situations that may adversely impact the quality and efficiencies tied to product, operations, and the business
• Foster a sense of teamwork; harness resultant energy, enthusiasm, and excitement of others to achieve organizational goals; display enthusiastic drive to encourage better business performance
• Establish an employee and consumer safety-first culture and support all guidelines of GMPs, HARPC, FDA, the Environmental Control Act, and OSHA standards to ensure plant compliance
• Support food safety program, quality standards, and legality of manufactured products
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned

Qualifications (Education, Experience, Competencies)

• Bachelor’s degree; Master’s degree preferred
• 10-15 years of progressive and demonstrated management experience with a minimum of 5 years of successful plant management experience in a food production facility
• Proficient knowledge of regulatory disciplines (EPA, OSHA, FDA, USDA)
• Proven fiscal responsibility (financial planning, budgeting, financial analysis, variance reporting, etc.)
• Familiarity with creating visual plant metrics
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and ERP system(s)
• Demonstrated cultural integration leader and change agent with proven ability to drive results
• Strong employee and consumer safety leadership experience
• Demonstrated ability to create/manage systems and processes necessary to achieve zero accidents, zero defects, and zero unplanned downtime
• Outstanding employee relations skills
• Highly detail oriented with excellent organizational and project management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills