Onboarding Trainer- 1st Shift Acorn

Farmer Focus•Harrisonburg, VA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Onboarding Trainer helps develop, mentor, and coach new team members as they learn Farmer Focus operations processes and the knowledge, skills, procedures, and responsibilities needed for their assigned positions. The role partners with Operations, the Orientation Trainer, department leads, supervisors, and Safety to support new hires through their 60-day probationary period. The position emphasizes lifelong learning, coaching, team member development, and the Farmer Focus CARES values: Community, Accountability, Respect, Excellence, and Stewardship. Approximately 70% of the role is spent providing hands-on training and support in production departments, while approximately 30% supports orientation, new-hire understanding, check-ins, documentation, and related onboarding activities. The position is based on-site at the Acorn facility in a manufacturing and poultry production environment. It requires regular access to production and operational areas, where conditions may be hot, wet, cold, or chilled. Hearing and eye protection, hair and beard nets, and potentially other personal protective equipment are required in production areas. The role may involve standing for long periods, walking, bending, reaching, demonstrating production tasks, coaching on the production floor, and using computers and Microsoft Office tools. It requires working in a fast-paced environment where priorities and training needs may change quickly. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. The position has no application deadline; recruitment continues until the role is filled.

Requirements

At least 3 years of related experience relevant to the role.
Strong communication skills in English, Spanish, and/or French.
Experience leading or supporting training initiatives in a manufacturing, production, or operations environment.
Strong Microsoft Office skills.
Ability to train, coach, mentor, and support new team members in a production environment.
Ability to demonstrate proper job techniques and explain expectations clearly.
Ability to analyze processes and identify training needs.
Ability to communicate effectively with new hires, leads, supervisors, Operations leadership, Safety, and the Orientation Trainer.
Ability to complete and maintain training documentation, evaluations, check-ins, and feedback forms accurately and on time.
Ability to work hands-on in production departments for a significant portion of the role.
Ability to support food safety, GMP, safety, health and welfare, and operational training requirements.
Ability to model the Farmer Focus CARES values of Community, Accountability, Respect, Excellence, and Stewardship.
Ability to perform the essential functions of the role with or without reasonable accommodation.
Must pass a drug and alcohol screening after offer and before employment begins.
Employment eligibility must be documented by the end of the employee's third day of work, as required by the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual ability in English and Spanish.
Prior experience as a trainer, lead, buddy trainer, production trainer, onboarding trainer, or in a similar role.
Experience supporting new hires through an introductory, probationary, or onboarding period.
Experience in poultry processing, food processing, manufacturing, production, or operations.
Experience training team members on food safety, GMPs, safety techniques, health and welfare, production standards, or documented work processes.
Experience using surveys, check-ins, evaluations, or tracking tools to monitor new-hire progress.
Strong commitment to lifelong learning, coaching, and team member development.

Responsibilities

Provide hands-on training in assigned departments to help new hires learn skills needed to contribute to production.
Spend approximately 70% of working time providing hands-on training and support in production departments.
Monitor new hires and clarify expectations regarding proper techniques for specific jobs.
Demonstrate and coach proper job execution in assigned departments.
Assist the Orientation Trainer during new-hire orientation week.
Spend approximately 30% of working time supporting orientation, new-hire understanding, check-ins, documentation, and related onboarding activities.
Check in with new hires at the 2-week, 4-week, and 7-week marks to support understanding of company policies, procedures, and values.
Conduct daily evaluations to track new-hire improvement and identify additional training needs.
Analyze processes to determine training needs and opportunities for improvement.
Communicate concerns related to new hires to leads and supervisors.
Conduct weekly check-ins according to the schedule established by the department.
Serve as a subject matter expert on the production floor.
Partner with Operations Leadership and Safety to ensure team members follow documented processes.
Assist assigned departments with training on compliance-related topics, including food safety, GMPs, safety techniques, and health and welfare expectations.
Ensure supervisors provide regular feedback on new hires using survey forms or other required feedback tools.
Support a coaching culture by modeling patience, professionalism, accountability, and respect.
Reinforce safety, quality, productivity, animal welfare, food safety, and operational expectations during training.
Perform other duties as assigned.