- Senior
- Office in Dallas
This position will support the VP of Operations by overseeing day-to-day operations, leading cross-functional teams, and ensuring operational excellence across production, maintenance, scheduling, purchasing, and warehouse. The role is instrumental in driving continuous improvement, maintaining regulatory compliance, and cultivating a culture of safety, quality, and high performance.
Key Responsibilities
Essential Job Duties
- Spends at least 75% of time on the plant floor.
- Lead and support daily plant operations to meet or exceed production, quality, and safety goals.
- Supervise functional areas including production, scheduling, maintenance, purchasing, and warehouse logistics.
- Oversees the daily workflow of the department.
- Provides constructive and timely performance evaluations.
- Handles discipline and termination of employees in accordance with company policy.
- Accountable for production quotas and schedules, ensuring inventory and shipment targets are met.
- Directs purchasing department to verify, review, maintain, and report on materials and production inventories.
- Monitor product quality and consistency, reduce waste, and improve scrap rates through continuous improvement initiatives.
- Develop and manage budgets, capital projects, and cost-reduction strategies while maintaining quality and operational standards.
- Ensure equipment and facility maintenance meets safety, efficiency, and security standards.
- Promote a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and operational excellence.
- Supervise repairs or maintenance team for production tools and equipment.
- Identifies and recommends cost controls and other improvements to production process.
- Provides training and motivation to team members, using recognition, positive feedback, and other rewards with appropriate discretion in a continuous improvement environment.
- Model personal leadership capabilities for growth and will demonstrate a focus on talent development and upskilling of the team to ensure succession and leadership engagement.
- Flexibility to work across 1st and 2nd shifts based on business needs
- Follows all health and safety standards and enforces use of PPE.
- Performs other plant related duties as assigned.
- Leads root cause analysis investigations in the plant.
- Assists HR with employee investigations as needed.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Competencies & Skill Requirements
- Proven leadership and team development skills in a fast-paced manufacturing setting.
- Strong analytical skills; ability to interpret KPIs and take data-driven action.
- Excellent verbal and written communication across all organizational levels.
- Ability to lead change, implement process improvements, and build team alignment.
- Advanced problem-solving skills; quick thinking in high-pressure situations.
- Strong working knowledge of safety, regulatory, and quality systems (OSHA, GMP, HACCP, SQF).
- Strong conflict resolution skills, especially for addressing employee grievances or operational conflicts within the production team.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines with a sense of urgency.
- Hands-on leadership style with a strong floor presence and approachability.
- High attention to detail, professionalism, and integrity.
- Strong analytical skills; I.E., ability to analyze detailed data to make informed decisions.
- Proficient in Enterprise Resource Production (ERP) systems for manufacturing production.
- Experience managing budgets, cost analysis, and implementing cost-saving initiatives without compromising safety or quality.
- Ensures that all areas and equipment are kept clean and in good repair during operations and works closely with third party cleaning services after second shift.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree in Manufacturing, Business or Engineering
- A Minimum of eight (8) years’ experience in a production management environment, with over $20M in sales, and 200 or more employees.
- A minimum of five (5) years in a food manufacturing Plant Manager role.
- Experience working in a food manufacturing environment applying common processes, procedures and equipment.
- 3 years or more experience applying and enforcing routine Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP's) in a food environment.
- Familiarity with regulatory requirements for food manufacturing plants.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Good understanding of all continuous improvement production techniques.
- Certified and trained in OSHA requirements or expectations, SQF, HACCP, SDS, First Aid/CPR, proper sanitation practices and food handling procedures.
- Aptitude for equipment operations and troubleshooting.
- Ability to communicate in Spanish or Vietnamese preferred.
Work Environment
· Must be able to stand, walk, kneel and bend for extended periods of time.
· Must be able to work in warm, cold and freezing temperatures for long periods of time.
· Occasionally required to balance or climb.
· Frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds
EEOC
Vans Kitchen is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including but not limited to hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Vans Kitchen makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.
