Plant Manager

Balchem Corporation • Albert Lea, MN

17d • Onsite

About The Position

The Plant Manager provides overall operational leadership for a manufacturing facility producing extruded and agglomerated food. The role is responsible for safety, quality, financial performance, and continuous improvement, and develops short-term tactical and long-term strategic plans for the business groups represented at the site. The manager ensures efficient, safe operations that comply with applicable regulatory, environmental, and food safety standards while aligning facility operations with corporate strategy and growth objectives. The position is located in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

The Plant Manager oversees day-to-day operations and site strategy; leads safety, environmental, and regulatory compliance; develops site leadership capability; and oversees maintenance, reliability, and engineering work. The role also leads operational excellence and change initiatives and drives productivity, cost reduction, and broader business performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Chemistry, Food Science, Manufacturing, or a related field.
• 5–10+ years of progressive manufacturing or processing leadership experience.
• Experience leading in regulated food environments with strong safety initiatives.
• Demonstrated success managing multiple complex manufacturing departments.
• Deep understanding of employee and food safety, quality systems, nutrient production, and regulatory requirements.
• Proven financial and operational acumen, including cost management.
• Experience with asset-intensive operations, R&D production coordination, and reliability-focused maintenance strategies.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and change-management skills.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations across multiple business areas and plants, ensuring consistent performance, operational discipline, and customer-commitment delivery.
• Develop, communicate, and execute site-level strategies aligned with business goals for production, quality, cost, and service.
• Provide strategic and hands-on leadership across multiple departments to ensure safe, efficient, and compliant operations.
• Establish standardized operating practices, performance metrics, and governance across the facility.
• Ensure production plans meet customer demand while optimizing throughput, yield, and asset utilization.
• Champion a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, and chemical process safety (PSM) requirements.
• Oversee process safety, materials handling, dust control, waste management, and environmental stewardship programs.
• Lead audits, inspections, and corrective action plans related to safety, quality, and regulatory compliance.
• Enforce safety policies and procedures, conduct regular safety audits, and promote employee safety awareness.
• Lead site leadership teams and build leadership capability through coaching, performance management, and succession planning.
• Foster collaboration across Operations, EHS, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, and HR, and promote accountability, engagement, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee asset reliability, preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, aging assets, maintenance programs, and spare-parts strategies.
• Partner with Engineering on plant upgrades, expansions, debottlenecking, and automation projects.
• Lead Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Operational Excellence initiatives and drive standardization of systems, processes, and reporting.
• Improve operational efficiency and use staff cost-effectively; lead change initiatives supporting growth and transformation.
• Institutionalize learning from quality gaps and customer performance in plant processes and practices.
• Drive productivity improvements and cost reductions without compromising safety or quality.
• Support plant expansions, new product introductions, and process optimization.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager