Production Manager

Position Summary The Production Manager is responsible for leading and managing all production activities within the sweet potato processing facility. This position ensures that products are manufactured safely, efficiently, consistently, and according to customer specifications, company standards, and applicable food safety and regulatory requirements. The Production Manager will oversee production employees and supervisors, coordinate daily production schedules, monitor operational performance, control labor and production costs, and work closely with Quality Assurance, Maintenance, Warehouse, Procurement, and Management to achieve plant objectives. The ideal candidate is a hands-on leader with strong food manufacturing experience, excellent problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to build an accountable, safety-focused production team. Key Responsibilities Production Operations Manage daily production operations to meet production schedules, customer requirements, and established quality standards. Plan and coordinate production activities based on raw material availability, customer orders, labor requirements, equipment capacity, and scheduled maintenance. Monitor production lines to ensure efficient operation and minimize downtime, waste, rework, and product loss. Establish and monitor production goals, including throughput, yield, labor efficiency, downtime, and overall equipment effectiveness. Ensure proper handling, washing, sorting, grading, peeling, cutting, cooking, freezing, packaging, or other processing activities as applicable to the plant. Identify production bottlenecks and implement corrective actions to improve productivity and flow. Coordinate changeovers, sanitation activities, startup, shutdown, and line scheduling. Maintain accurate production records and ensure timely reporting of production results. Food SafetyQuality Maintain a strong food safety culture throughout the production department. Ensure employees follow HACCP, GMP, SSOP, allergen-control procedures, sanitation requirements, and company food safety policies, as applicable. Work closely with Quality Assurance to ensure products meet specifications and regulatory requirements. Immediately address quality or food safety deviations and ensure appropriate corrective actions are implemented. Support internal, customer, regulatory, and third-party audits. Ensure traceability and proper identification of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished products. Promote proper product handling and prevent contamination, foreign material, and cross-contact risks. Employee Leadership Lead, coach, and develop production supervisors, leads, and hourly employees. Establish clear expectations for safety, quality, attendance, productivity, housekeeping, and workplace conduct. Ensure adequate staffing for scheduled production activities. Assist with recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, training, and performance management of production employees. Conduct regular production meetings and communicate goals, priorities, and operational issues to the team. Build a culture of accountability, teamwork, continuous improvement, and respect. Address employee performance issues consistently and in accordance with company policies. Safety Maintain a safe working environment and ensure compliance with company safety procedures and applicable OSHA requirements. Ensure employees receive appropriate training on equipment operation, PPE, lockout/tagout, chemical handling, ergonomics, and other applicable safety procedures. Investigate workplace incidents and near misses and implement corrective actions. Conduct or participate in regular safety inspections and safety meetings. Promote safe equipment operation and immediately address unsafe conditions. MaintenanceEquipment Partner with the Maintenance Department to minimize equipment downtime and improve equipment reliability. Communicate equipment issues and prioritize repairs based on production requirements and sa…

View the full posting and apply