Director of Operations sought for rapidly growing Food Production Kitchen

Taher, Inc.•Plymouth, MN

10d•Onsite

About The Position

Taher is seeking an experienced food manufacturing leader to serve as Director of Manufacturing Operations / Plant Director for our Plymouth manufacturing operations. Taher manufactures fresh and prepared foods for major retail, convenience and grocery customers. Our operations include high-volume production of burgers, sandwiches, bakery products and other prepared and ready-to-eat foods. Current customer programs include products for 7-Eleven, Costco, Kroger and other customers. The Director of Manufacturing Operations is responsible for converting customer requirements and business expectations into disciplined daily execution. This leader will oversee the day-to-day manufacturing operation with accountability for safety, food safety, quality, people, production, labor, service, cost and continuous improvement. This is a hands-on plant leadership position. The Director must be highly visible throughout the manufacturing operation and comfortable spending significant time on the production floor observing processes, engaging employees, coaching leaders, removing barriers and ensuring problems are resolved. We are looking for a leader who can bring structure without unnecessary bureaucracy, accountability without losing employee engagement and operational discipline without losing Taher’s entrepreneurial ability to find solutions.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Food Science, Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered.
8--12+ years of progressive operations, food manufacturing, production, logistics, or plant leadership experience.
Experience in food manufacturing, ready-to-eat foods, bakery, commissary, packaged goods, meal assembly, or high-volume production strongly preferred.
Experience leading manufacturing operations in a high-volume, fast-paced production environment.
Demonstrated success improving productivity, quality, service, and manufacturing costs.
Strong knowledge of food safety, quality systems, HACCP, GMP, and applicable regulatory requirements.
Experience with Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, OEE, and operational performance management.
Strong financial and business acumen.
Proven leadership, coaching, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Multi-site operations experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Direct the day-to-day execution of manufacturing operations across Culinary / Prepared Foods and Great Northern Bakery.
Ensure production schedules are understood, appropriately staffed and effectively executed.
Maintain a regular and visible presence across production areas and shifts.
Establish effective shift startup, handoff, performance-review and escalation practices.
Identify production barriers and ensure timely resolution.
Create clear accountability for plant results and ensure plant leaders understand both expectations and performance.
Lead, coach and develop production managers, supervisors and other plant leaders.
Create a high-performance culture built on clear expectations, accountability, respect and problem solving.
Develop frontline supervisors into capable people leaders.
Ensure managers and supervisors spend appropriate time on the floor and actively manage their operations.
Address performance issues directly and promptly.
Build bench strength for critical plant leadership positions.
Partner with Human Resources on staffing, employee relations, performance management, recruiting, retention and workforce planning.
Partner with Training & Development to strengthen onboarding, operator training, qualification and supervisor development.
Ensure manufacturing operations meet customer commitments for safety, quality, specifications, volume, timing and service.
Understand the expectations associated with large national retail, convenience and grocery customers.
Partner across Taher to support new-product introductions, customer launches, changing demand and operational requirements.
Ensure operational issues affecting customers are quickly escalated, investigated and corrected.
Build processes capable of reliably executing customer requirements at scale.
Create an environment where employee safety and food safety are part of daily operating leadership.
Ensure manufacturing compliance with applicable USDA, FDA, HACCP, GMP, sanitation, allergen, FSMA, customer and certification requirements.
Partner closely with Food Safety & Quality leadership.
Ensure production leaders understand their responsibility for food safety and product quality.
Support internal, customer and regulatory audits.
Drive timely corrective action when problems occur.
Own plant execution against manufacturing KPIs, including safety, food safety, quality, customer service, production attainment, throughput, labor productivity, overtime, yield, waste, rework, downtime, equipment performance, schedule attainment, attendance and turnover.
Conduct regular plant-performance reviews.
Use performance information to identify opportunities and establish clear corrective actions.
Validate data by observing conditions on the production floor.
Identify and eliminate recurring operational problems.
Lead structured root-cause analysis.
Improve production flow and standard work.
Reduce unnecessary variation.
Drive improvements in labor utilization, setup/changeover, material flow, downtime, yield and waste.
Build continuous improvement into daily operations rather than treating it as a separate program.
Encourage employees and frontline leaders to identify and solve problems.
Work closely with Maintenance leadership to improve equipment reliability and reduce production disruptions.
Establish effective Production / Maintenance communication and prioritization.
Support preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
Ensure operators appropriately care for equipment and identify emerging equipment issues.
Support equipment installation, startup and capital projects.
Align daily and weekly staffing requirements with production demand.
Manage labor efficiently while protecting customer execution.
Reduce unnecessary overtime and reactive staffing.
Partner with Human Resources on workforce stability, attendance, recruiting and retention.
Support appropriate management of temporary or contingent labor when used.
Develop workforce plans based on actual capacity and demand requirements.
Understand the primary cost drivers within the operation.
Manage manufacturing performance within approved budgets.
Partner with Finance on performance measurement and variance analysis.
Identify and address unfavorable labor, material, waste, yield, overtime or operating-cost trends.
Support annual operating plans and capital planning.
Work closely with Taher’s corporate and functional teams, including Procurement, Human Resources, Training & Development, Finance, Information Technology, Food Safety & Quality, Culinary / Product Development and Executive Leadership.
Effectively utilize corporate support teams' specialized expertise, tools and resources while maintaining ownership for execution within the plant.