Operations Manager

First Quality • Anderson, SC

20h • Onsite

About The Position

First Quality is a family-owned company with over 35 years of history, growing from a small business into a group of companies employing over 5,000 team members. We maintain our family values and entrepreneurial spirit across our corporate offices in New York and Pennsylvania, and 8 manufacturing campuses in the U.S. and Canada. Our companies produce high-quality personal care and household products for large retailers and healthcare organizations, including baby diapers, wipes, feminine pads, paper towels, bath tissue, adult incontinence products, laundry detergents, fabric finishers, and dishwash solutions. We also manufacture raw materials and components for these products, such as flexible print and packaging solutions. Guided by our values of humility, unity, and integrity, we use advanced technology and innovation to drive growth and create new opportunities. At First Quality, we foster a collaborative environment focused on continuous learning, professional development, and our mission to Make Things Better®. We are seeking an Operations Manager for our First Quality Print & Packaging facility in Anderson, SC. This role leads day-to-day manufacturing across extrusion, flexographic printing, lamination, slitting, and warehouse operations. The Operations Manager is the primary driver of continuous improvement, digital transformation, and operational standardization for the plant. Reporting to the Director of Operations, this position is accountable for safety, quality, on-time delivery, and cost performance, as well as building the people, process, technology, and data capabilities necessary for FQP&P's future growth. This is a hands-on leadership role in a 24/7 SQF-certified flexible packaging operation. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment, challenges the status quo, and partners with First Quality’s enterprise Transformation Office to advance automation, analytics, and standard daily management.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management, Engineering, Business, or related field preferred; equivalent experience considered.
• 7+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
• At least 3 years directly leading flexible packaging, plastics extrusion, flexographic printing, or similar process operations.
• Proven ability to lead multi-department plant operations and drive measurable results.
• Strong Lean / Six Sigma practitioner (Green Belt or higher preferred) with a track record of sustained continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated change leadership: has led through significant processes, technology, or cultural transitions.
• Data-fluent: comfortable with dashboards, analytics, and data-driven decision making; able to challenge data quality and reporting integrity.
• Working knowledge of ERP (SAP preferred), MES platforms, and production scheduling tools.
• Excellent problem-solving, decision-making, and analytical skills.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and influencing skills across all levels of the organization.
• Thrives in a fast-paced, growth-oriented, 24/7 environment.

Nice To Haves

• Direct experience with blown film extrusion, flexographic printing (expanded color gamut), solventless lamination, and automated slitting.
• SQF or equivalent food-safety standards experience in a packaging environment.
• Demonstrated experience deploying or scaling automation — robotics, vision systems, MES, PLC integration.
• Exposure to Industry 4.0 / smart-factory concepts with real-world deployment experience.
• Experience leading plant-level transformation programs or multi-plant standardization efforts.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop department leaders, shift supervisors, and production teams.
• Model FQ core values; build a high-performing, safety-first culture where team members feel valued, accountable, and empowered.
• Own performance management, succession planning, and talent development, including building digital, automation, and data fluency.
• Foster cross-functional partnerships with Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, Scheduling, HR, and Procurement.
• Drive continuous improvement through Lean, Six Sigma, and 5S methodologies.
• Eliminate ineffective legacy practices and adopt enterprise process standards.
• Implement and sustain Daily Management System disciplines.
• Partner with the FQ Transformation Office on process redesign, simplification, and cross-plant standardization.
• Execute cost-reduction, yield-improvement, and capacity-expansion projects with clear ROI.
• Champion the plant’s technology roadmap, including MES, vision systems, PLC integration, and robotics.
• Identify, pilot, and scale automation opportunities across extrusion, print, lamination, slitting, and warehouse.
• Drive adoption of enterprise tools (SAP, MES, Hexagon, POKA, Intelex, ETQ, WinSPC) and evaluate new tools.
• Stay current on flexible packaging industry technology and translate awareness into concrete pilots.
• Partner with Engineering on capital project scoping, justification, and execution.
• Own the plant’s KPI framework (OEE, throughput, scrap, on-time delivery, inventory accuracy, quality defect rates, safety indicators).
• Demand and model data fluency: read dashboards, challenge data quality, use analytics for root cause analysis.
• Partner with enterprise Data & Analytics teams to build decision-quality reporting and advanced analytics use cases.
• Manage departmental budgets, labor costs, and operational expenses.
• Own end-to-end operations across extrusion, flexographic printing, lamination, slitting, and warehouse.
• Plan, schedule, and coordinate production to meet customer demand, minimize downtime, and control waste.
• Champion a zero-incident safety culture and ensure compliance with OSHA, SQF, food-contact GMP, and FQ safety policies.
• Drive quality standards, root-cause analysis, and closed-loop response to defects and complaints.
• Own warehouse operations, including inventory control, cycle counts, FIFO, and accurate, damage-free shipment.
• Lead a true 24/7 operation, being available and responsive off-hours, including nights, weekends, and holidays when production continuity requires it.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities
• Paid time off (three-week minimum)
• Medical, dental and vision starting day one
• 401(k) with employer match
• Paid parental leave
• Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $2500)
• Bundle of joy benefit (years’ worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby)
• Tuition assistance
• Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees