Plant Manager
About The Position
Valley Milk is seeking an experienced, forward-thinking Plant Manager to lead our world-class dairy ingredient manufacturing facility in Turlock, California. This is an opportunity to join a growing organization that combines the stability of family ownership with an entrepreneurial culture focused on continuous improvement, innovation, and operational excellence. Our state-of-the-art facility processes more than 2.5 million pounds of milk each day, producing premium dairy ingredients including milk powders, anhydrous milk fat (AMF), and ultra-filtered milk for domestic and international markets. If you are passionate about building high-performing teams, improving manufacturing performance through Lean principles, and leading one of California's premier dairy processing operations, we want to hear from you. Position Summary: The Plant Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for all manufacturing functions, including Production, Maintenance, Warehouse, Sanitation, and related operations. This role is responsible for driving safety, quality, productivity, employee engagement, and financial performance while fostering a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
Requirements
- Minimum 10 years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience
- At least 5 years leading plant operations within food, dairy, or consumer packaged goods manufacturing
- Strong dairy manufacturing experience with milk drying or spray drying operations
- Proven success implementing Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement programs
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams and developing leaders
- History of improving safety, quality, productivity, employee engagement, and financial performance
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Food Science, Dairy Science, Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent combinations of education, specialized training, and progressively responsible manufacturing leadership experience will also be considered. Candidates with extensive plant leadership experience who have demonstrated success in similar manufacturing environments are encouraged to apply.
Nice To Haves
- Dairy powder manufacturing
- Anhydrous Milk Fat (AMF)
- Ultra-filtered milk processing
- SQF-certified facilities
- Lean Manufacturing
- Kaizen
- 5S
- Value Stream Mapping
- OEE improvement
- Capital project leadership
Responsibilities
- Lead all day-to-day manufacturing operations
- Drive a culture of safety, accountability, and operational excellence
- Develop and mentor department leaders while building high-performing teams
- Champion Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement initiatives
- Improve OEE, productivity, throughput, yields, and operational efficiency
- Ensure compliance with SQF, HACCP, GMP, FDA, OSHA/Cal-OSHA, and environmental regulations
- Manage plant budgets and achieve cost, quality, and profitability objectives
- Analyze operational KPIs and implement sustainable corrective actions
- Support capital improvement projects and operational modernization
- Partner with Executive Leadership to support long-term business strategy
Benefits
- Competitive compensation and benefits package
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
