Plant Superintendent (Food Manufacturing)

Stratas Foods•Nashville, TN

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Plant Superintendent leads the daily operations of a manufacturing facility, ensuring safe, efficient, and cost-effective production of high-quality finished products while meeting customer service expectations and regulatory requirements. The role directs production personnel and works closely with Scheduling, Maintenance, Quality, Warehouse, and other support functions to optimize plant performance. The position drives continuous improvement, maintains compliance with food safety and quality systems, achieves operational and financial objectives, develops employees, and fosters positive employee relations. The Plant Superintendent establishes action plans to meet budget goals, production schedules, safety standards, food safety requirements, and customer expectations while promoting accountability, teamwork, and operational excellence. As a key member of the plant leadership team, the role provides leadership coverage when other plant leaders are absent.

Requirements

Minimum 5–7 years of manufacturing leadership experience.
Experience leading continuous improvement initiatives and managing production performance metrics.
Proficiency with the MS Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access, and AS 400.
Ability to interface with mainframe, general accounting, MRP, and order processing systems.
Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills; ability to communicate expectations, priorities, and business objectives across organizational levels.
Leadership skills that promote accountability, employee engagement, talent development, change management, safety, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
Ability to analyze operational data, identify trends and root causes, and use performance metrics to support decisions.
Root cause problem-solving skills and a continuous improvement mindset.
Ability to build teams through coaching, mentoring, and performance management and to promote cross-departmental collaboration.
Understanding of the relationship between operational performance and financial results, including resource and cost management.
Commitment to safety, food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance.
Ability to walk throughout the plant, including climbing stairs and portable or fixed ladders.
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds occasionally.
Sensory acuity in vision, hearing, speaking, smell, and touch sufficient to identify and react to normal, abnormal, and alarm conditions.
Ability to work through complex problems and processes logically and methodically and communicate effectively with all levels of the organization.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, Business, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and manufacturing leadership experience may be considered.
Previous supervisory experience in a food manufacturing environment.
Familiarity with PLC, Warehouse Management Systems, Inventory Management Systems, and Plant Automation Systems.

Responsibilities

Promote a culture of safety excellence and accountability throughout the facility.
Ensure compliance with safety, food safety, environmental, GMP, HACCP, company, regulatory, and customer requirements.
Lead and participate in incident investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective actions; reinforce safe work practices and housekeeping standards.
Support food safety programs through employee training, documentation, and process verification.
Lead the efficient use of labor, raw materials, equipment, energy, and utilities in production and packaging.
Coordinate daily production activities to meet schedules, customer requirements, quality standards, and cost objectives.
Monitor production performance, yields, labor utilization, downtime, and efficiencies, and implement corrective actions.
Develop and execute plans to improve operational performance, reduce waste, and increase productivity.
Troubleshoot operational issues and recommend equipment or process improvements to enhance safety, quality, productivity, and reliability.
Coordinate production activities during scheduled downtime for cleaning, maintenance, repairs, and capital improvements.
Maintain effective staffing, shift communications, and production documentation; support a 24/7 manufacturing operation, including after-hours support as required.
Establish and monitor KPIs for safety, quality, productivity, cost, and customer service.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on efficiency, product quality, cost reduction, and process optimization.
Assist with departmental operating budgets and monitor spending, including labor, overtime, supplies, and production costs.
Identify and implement cost-saving opportunities while maintaining operational effectiveness and product quality.
Coach, manage performance, and develop supervisors and hourly employees; set clear performance expectations and accountability measures.
Conduct performance evaluations and create development plans for direct reports.
Foster teamwork, communication, respect, and employee engagement; conduct crew and departmental meetings on objectives, initiatives, safety, and performance.
Support succession planning and talent development; address employee concerns promptly and consistently.
Partner with Scheduling, Maintenance, Quality, Warehouse, and other support departments to optimize plant performance.
Coordinate preventive maintenance with Maintenance to improve equipment reliability and minimize downtime.
Communicate operational priorities, production plans, and performance results across shifts and departments.
Participate in plant leadership meetings and contribute to plant goals and business objectives.
Ensure production records, operational reports, and required documentation are accurate and properly maintained.
Review operational performance data and prepare reports as required; maintain compliance with company policies and administrative procedures.
Assume delegated Plant Manager responsibilities in their absence and provide coverage for Production and Maintenance supervisory functions as needed.
Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.