Suntado LLCJob Title: Production ManagerOVERVIEW:As the Production Manager at our company, you will be responsible for coordinating the daily plans and activities of the plant. Focus on personnel development, production of wholesome, quality product, and work executed in a safe manner are the primary objectives for this role. The Production managers will ensure that process standards are achieved to produce consistent, safe, high-quality ESL and UHT beverages by providing support, guidance, and motivation to production staff. We are seeking someone who will contribute daily to the progress of plant during start up and commissioning. Through engagement with all levels and presence on the floor, the candidate will be hands-on through the process of validating line and equipment set up, operational checks and testing, initial run testing, passivation of equipment, and commissioning. The Production Manager will be a role model for safety and Good Manufacturing Practices and set goals and expectations for those reporting to this position. This role will be instrumental in developing the culture, training plans, operational standards, and execution of standard operating procedures for the facility.You will:
- Lead supervisors and employees to successful attainment of production schedule through mentoring, training, and clear direction.
- Coordinate work through contractors, vendors, other plant leadership and support department employees to ensure consistent performance and optimum production.
- Ensure detailed logs are for equipment, process parameters, inventory, and waste tracking are maintained daily. Provide detail and communicate plans for action tracking to resolve issues.
- Execute plans and coordinate work from processing, handling, batching, filling, and packaging.
- Provide feedback and direction to streamline workflow procedures with the goal of increasing efficiency and reducing operational cost.
- Monitor and manage use of ERP system to ensure accurate record keeping, recipes followed precisely, and personnel executing procedures properly.
- Develop thorough understanding of regulatory laws and responsibilities to ensure facility standards meet and/or exceed.
The successful candidate will:
- Play a critical role in our plant management team, reporting to the Plant Manager and Company Owners.
- Will provide an inspiring and collaborative leadership style.
- Be a team builder with great people and communication skills.
- Have experience with milk processing, business and operational acumen in beverage, food, or other manufacturing environments.
- Be self-motivated and work productively with limited supervision.
- Actively participate or delegate appropriate personnel in HACCP team, Quality RCAs, routine plant inspections, ISDA, SQF, and customer audits.
- Evaluate daily reports and data for inventory, downtime, KPIs, and plans for change overs, maintenance, sanitation to ensure optimized production. Present concise reports to management staff.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Establish and uphold high standards of safety in all aspects of daily plant operations routines.
- Immediately report and escalate any deviation from food safety and quality programs.
- Coordinate training of operations personnel for equipment, materials, and plant standards
- Develop annual growth strategy and roadmap for your shift/crew. Develop competent and confident personnel to achieve bench strength and depth of skills.
- Maintain an action tracker for your team and establish accountability with team to make continuous improvement.
- Ensure appropriate processes and standards are in place and followed to keep producing quality food, maintain high performance, and generate robust records.
- Provide direction to address downtime and operational problems real time and through reports and coordinate with plant leadership to ensure consistency across all shifts.
- Always maintain the plant and your personnel in audit-ready status.
- Identify and correct root cause for issues that inhibit shift achievement of KPIs.
- Must have knowledge of or be capable of learning to read and interpret equipment drawings and P&IDs for the plant.
- Provide personnel and support to vendors and technicians on-site for commissioning, training, PMs, routine, and non-routine work. Allow teams to learn, hands-on any time they can.
- Uphold high standards of conduct while providing support to your team.
- Participate and facilitate cross functional teams focused on reducing downtime and improving performance, resolving quality concerns, and take advantage of situations where your expertise can provide coaching or teaching moments to teams.
- Report out and detail maintenance, instrument or equipment replacement, or PLC changes according to change management protocol.
- This position will require active involvement in daily operations and taking advantage of teaching moments to help grow, develop, and promote personnel in the plant. Be present on the floor and with employees daily to model safe behavior and combat complacency.
- Help interview, select, onboard, and develop new and existing team members.
- Ensure GMPs, Safety, attendance, and all other plant policy and procedures are adhered to across all levels of plant personnel.
- Provide oversight, direction, and goals for operating systems from raw milk intake through blending and UHT operations, aseptic storage tanks and filling packaging lines in the plant to ensure the highest level of quality and efficiency.
- Directly engage and continuously train your team to foster employee understanding and engagement in all aspects of safety, food safety, and overall quality
- Present information and respond to questions from management team, owners, vendors, and customers. Exhibit robust communication across all levels.
- Empower your employees to be successful by ensuring they have the tools needed to be successful.
- Coordinate with support departments to keep track of maintenance, supplies, and other costs to ensure the facility budget is achieved.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
- BS/BA in manufacturing or related field, and/or a combination of education and minimum of 5 years of supervisory experience in food processing or manufacturing field.
- Ideal candidate will have experience/knowledge of dairy plant operations, controls systems, pumps, mix proof valves, and milk processing equipment.
- Ideal candidate will have experience or training related to aseptic or extended shelf-life products and associated fillers.
- Ability to work in fast paced environment, be decisive, and multitask.
- Experience planning production and cleaning routines, planned/preventative maintenance strategies, and compiling weekly performance reports a plus.
- Proven track record of developing and empowering employees desired.
- Roles as leader, ideally in a food, beverage, or other manufacturing environment.
QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Knowledge of regulatory requirements for food processing, dairy and aseptic products preferred.
- Experience in manufacturing maintenance, similar position, and managing people or some combination of the three.
- Ability to communicate well to all levels throughout the plant; written, verbal, and presentations.
- Lead safety-minded teams
- Ability to handle challenging situations and influence personnel tactfully.
- Experience leading technical teams.
- Flexibility and adaptability to moving from startup environment to full production operations.
- Must be able to prioritize, multi-task and problem solve in a fast-paced environment.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
- Ability to translate production schedules, line performance, attainment, and goals into metrics that define health of maintenance program.
- Excellent active listening, negotiating, and presentation skills.
- Competence to build and effectively manage interpersonal relationships at all levels of the company.
- Familiar with current communication tools and platforms (collaboration tools, instant messaging, blogs, etc.) to keep your organization well informed in a timely manner.
- Fluency in Spanish is advantageous but not required.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to speak and listen. The employee frequently is required to walk within the site. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; use hands feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 50pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus. COMMITMENT TO ETHICS AND EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: Our Company is firmly committed to conducting business in compliance with the letter and spirit of the law and other accepted standards of business conduct as reflected in the company's policies. Our Company is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. Our Company is committed to selecting, developing, and rewarding the best person for the job based on the requirements of the work to be performed and without regard to race, age, color, religion, sex, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability/handicap, marital status, protected veteran status, uniform status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, genetic information, gender identity and expression, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law. EEO. DISCLAIMER: The preceding position description has been designed to indicate the general nature of work performed; the level of knowledge and skills typically required; and usual working conditions of this position. It is not designed to contain, or be interpreted as, a comprehensive listing of all requirements or responsibilities that may be required by employees in this position.