Assistant Plant Superintendent - Decatur, IL

Archer Daniels Midland•Decatur, IL

10d

About The Position

The Assistant Plant Superintendent leads the daily operations of ADM Spiral, helping the facility achieve strong performance in safety, environmental stewardship, quality, reliability, production, and employee engagement. The role provides leadership and direction to operations, maintenance, quality, and support personnel; drives continuous improvement; and contributes to the facility’s business objectives. The position is accountable for plant performance, employee development, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence. The role directs plant operations, monitors performance metrics, and coordinates operational priorities across functions. It partners with maintenance leadership on preventive and predictive maintenance, equipment reliability, shutdowns, and asset management. It also leads and develops employees, supports workforce planning and employee relations, and guides productivity, cost, and process improvement efforts. The Assistant Plant Superintendent reports directly to the Plant Manager. This is a full-time, exempt position in Decatur, Illinois. The role requires flexible hours and occasional travel, and may serve as the primary operations contact during off-hours and emergencies. A background check is required for the successful candidate. The posting does not provide a numerical pay range.

Requirements

Minimum of 5–10 years of manufacturing, processing, or industrial operations experience.
Minimum of 3–5 years of leadership or supervisory experience in a manufacturing environment.
Proven commitment to safety and environmental compliance.
Strong leadership, team-building, and employee development skills.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
Ability to make sound decisions under pressure and during operational upsets.
Understanding of manufacturing processes, process improvement, reliability, and asset management principles.
Experience with root cause analysis and corrective action processes.
Working knowledge of budgeting, cost management, and business performance metrics.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Teams, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Ability and willingness to work flexible hours and respond to plant emergencies when needed.
Ability to travel occasionally for meetings and training.
Successful completion of a background check.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Industrial Technology, Business, or a related field.
Experience leading operations in a continuous-process or industrial manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

Provide visible leadership and accountability for plant safety, health, environmental, and quality programs, ensuring compliance with company policies, regulations, and industry standards.
Promote employee engagement in hazard identification and mitigation; lead incident investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective actions.
Ensure environmental permits, reporting obligations, quality standards, customer requirements, and product specifications are met.
Champion Behavioral Safety Excellence and Operational Excellence initiatives; lead emergency preparedness and serve as Incident Commander when required.
Direct plant operations to maximize production, efficiency, reliability, and profitability while protecting employees, assets, customers, and production commitments.
Set daily, weekly, and monthly operating priorities and monitor performance metrics such as safety, quality, throughput, yield, downtime, energy use, and cost.
Coordinate communication among operations, maintenance, quality, engineering, and logistics teams; lead operational reviews and improvement activities.
Partner with maintenance leadership on preventive and predictive maintenance, reliability improvements, maintenance priorities, and capital or maintenance project needs.
Participate in plant shutdown planning, execution, and post-outage evaluations; monitor maintenance spending and resource utilization.
Lead, coach, mentor, and develop supervisors, operators, and hourly team members; support recruiting, onboarding, training, succession planning, and employee development.
Conduct performance evaluations and provide coaching and feedback; promote accountability, teamwork, ownership, continuous learning, and employee engagement.
Apply company policies and performance expectations consistently and partner with Human Resources on employee relations, disciplinary matters, and workforce planning.
Use Operational Excellence, Lean Manufacturing, and continuous improvement methods to improve productivity, reliability, efficiency, and cost performance and eliminate waste.
Identify process optimization, capital improvement, and cost reduction opportunities; support annual business planning, budgeting, and forecasting.
Track and communicate plant performance metrics and improvement opportunities.
Serve as the primary point of contact for plant operations during off-hours and emergencies; coordinate with corporate, regional, and facility leadership on strategic initiatives and performance objectives.
Lead special projects as assigned and perform other duties as required.

Benefits

Medical and prescription coverage
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
On-site wellness center access or gym reimbursement, as applicable
Flexible spending accounts
Health savings account
401(k) with matching contributions
Cash balance plan
Discounted employee stock purchasing program
Life insurance
Disability coverage
Workers’ compensation
Legal assistance
Identity theft protection
Employee Assistance Program
Employee Resource Groups
Colleague Giving Programs
Paid time off, including paid holidays
Adoption assistance
Paid maternity and parental leave
Tuition assistance
Company-sponsored training and development resources, including LinkedIn Learning, language training, and mentoring programs