Operations Manager

Griffith Foods is the caring, creative product development partner helping food companies meet the evolving needs of consumers while sustaining the planet. As a family business founded in 1919 and headquartered in Alsip, Illinois USA, Griffith Foods is known for true, collaborative innovation guided by their Purpose of "We Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World". The company's product capabilities range from seasonings and marinades to coating systems and sauces that are better for people and better for the planet. For more information, visit www.griffithfoods.com.

Pay Scale Min $99,901 Max $166,502

The Operations Manager directs the daily operations, emphasizing Safety, Quality, Delivery/Service, Cost, Sustainability and Morale in the Plant. This includes overseeing all parts of the production process: batching, staging, mixing, and packaging, etc. to ensure the efficient production of quality products. They also drive a lean culture, standardize best practices, and lead continuous improvement initiatives. Collaborating across functions, this position also proposes and spearheads strategic projects aimed at enhancing plant operations.

• Plans and executes operations in coordination with a master production schedule and other daily activities to ensure manufacturing objectives are accomplished in time, and in a safe & cost effective manner. This position oversees the implementation and achievement of the weekly manufacturing plan for a production facility yielding over 12 million pounds annually.
• Leads by example, fostering a culture of teamwork, accountability, and excellence among his direct and indirect reports and peers.
• Ensures that Manufacturing operations are coordinated and compliant with other support functions, such as Employee Safety, Environmental Management Systems, Food Safety & Quality Systems, R&D, Engineering, Customer Service and Planning to achieve the goals for the assigned factory.
• Leads and champions site-specific continuous improvement programs (GPE/GPS), spearheading GEMBA walks, Kaizen events, and other lean initiatives as necessary, with the objective of improving all Supply Chain dimensions, specially caring for our employees' wellbeing, reducing defects, optimizing production efficiency, minimizing waste, and reducing costs. This includes evaluating and recommending improvements in methods, procedures, and processes.
• Actively participates in the Employee Safety Committee, and manages the production team's safety program including training material definition, training support and incident/accident investigation.
• Ensures that Good Manufacturing Practices and Audit requirements are met.

• Works with Engineering and Maintenance to manage installation and startup of capital projects. Identifies process bottlenecks and constraints and provides suggestions and implements solutions for eliminating those obstacles. This includes researching, evaluating, and recommending equipment and/or software technologies.

• Utilizes a Daily Management System to visually display and effectively communicate real time operational performance and historical performance to all employees.
• Manages and maintains the reporting of Metrics, KPI's, and Scorecards for plant supply chain.
• This position is the Autonomous Maintenance Subject Matter Expert of the site, with working knowledge of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). This position is responsible for the implementation, management, and training of Plant Employees on the Autonomous Maintenance program.

• Oversees three production supervisors across three production shifts, might also supervise Maintenance Technicians / staff.
• Guides, educates, coaches, develops, motivates and supervises their direct and indirect team to achieve required Plant results. Conducts regular performance evaluations for production supervisors and provides constructive feedback for improvement.
• Closely monitors operations to ensure that Plant goals are met.Observes all organization's policies and applicable laws. Oversees and is responsible for production employees being appropriately trained on all aspects related to their work.
• Is responsible for addressing associate complaints and resolving problems; works with and coaches' supervisors to do the same.
• Steps in as production supervisor as necessary, while also managing PTO coordination among the production supervisor team.

• Collaborates with the Plant Manager and HR function to track and manage open headcount and overall staffing requirements for the Production department.
• Is responsible for working with Production leadership team and HR to interview, select, and hire new team members as well as onboard and coordinate new employee's training.