Plant Director

Summary
The Plant Director has full operational ownership of the Calle Lee facility. This role is responsible for setting and executing plant strategy while ensuring best-in-class performance across safety, quality, service, cost, and people development.

As a senior operations leader, the Plant Director provides strategic and hands-on leadership to all plant functions, including Production, Maintenance, Quality, Sanitation, Warehouse, and Support Functions, driving operational excellence at a scale that has significant impact on the organization’s overall performance. This role plays a critical part in shaping culture, developing leadership capability, and delivering continuous improvement across the facility.

Key Responsibilities

Plant Leadership & Organizational Ownership

• Provide overall leadership and direction for all plant operations, with direct accountability for performance outcomes.
• Lead and develop a multi-layer leadership team, including Production, Maintenance, Quality, Sanitation, and Warehouse leaders.
• Drive a strong culture of safety, accountability, engagement, and continuous improvement across the facility.
• Establish clear expectations, performance standards, and succession plans for key leadership roles.

Operational Excellence & Performance Management

• Own plant-wide results for Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Productivity.
• Oversee all production and manufacturing operations, including production planning, staffing strategies, inventory accuracy, and equipment reliability.
• Establish, monitor, and improve key plant KPIs, including Safety, Quality, OEE, Line Efficiency, Labor Productivity, Scrap/Waste, Downtime, and Throughput.
• Champion Lean Manufacturing, TPM, and Continuous Improvement initiatives, including 5S, root cause analysis, standard work, and loss elimination.

Safety, Quality & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure full compliance with all food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements, including SQF, HACCP, GMPs, USDA/FDA standards, and customer-specific requirements.
• Lead plant safety strategy, ensuring proactive risk identification, corrective action execution, and sustained results.
• Partner closely with Quality leadership to protect product integrity and reduce customer complaints.
• Lead and participate in internal and external audits, inspections, and risk assessments.

Cross-Functional & Customer Collaboration

• Partner with Supply Chain, R&D, Quality, Maintenance, HR, Finance, and Commercial teams to support business objectives and new initiatives.
• Ensure plant execution aligns with customer commitments, service expectations, and growth plans.
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for the facility, representing Calle Lee within the broader organization.

Strategic Planning, Capital & Financial Ownership

• Develop and execute plant-level strategies aligned with company goals and long-term operational plans.
• Own the annual operating budget, including labor, materials, overhead, and capital expenditures.
• Lead capital projects, equipment upgrades, and capacity expansion initiatives.
• Identify and implement cost-reduction, efficiency, and capability-building opportunities.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Deep expertise in food manufacturing operations, including safety, quality, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven ability to lead large, complex operations with measurable impact on business results.
• Strong command of Lean Manufacturing, OEE, TPM, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Exceptional leadership, coaching, and change-management capabilities.
• Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, and cost control.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite; experience with ERP/MES systems preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, Food Science, or related field; advanced degree a plus.
• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, including senior plant-level leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience leading large, complex manufacturing facilities with direct impact on enterprise performance.
• Food manufacturing experience strongly preferred; experience in regulated environments (USDA, FDA, SQF) required.
• Proven track record of building leadership teams, driving KPIs, managing budgets, and delivering continuous improvement.
• Strong experience leading maintenance, reliability, and capital programs (direct or matrixed responsibility).
• Ability to work flexible hours based on operational needs and business demands.
• Must be able to work on-site in a fast-paced production environment.

Work Environment

• 100% Onsite. Combination of office and manufacturing floor environments.
• Exposure to noise, machinery, temperature variation, and food-processing conditions.
• Evening or weekend work may be required based on operational needs.