Production Lead I - 2nd Shift

Now Foods•Bloomingdale, IL

22h•Onsite

About The Position

The Production Lead I leads a production team in meeting department goals by planning and delegating daily work, monitoring shift performance, and responding to safety, quality, production, and employee needs. The role trains, coaches, and develops team members; assigns work and monitors production under the direction of the Production Supervisor; and supports safe, efficient, specification-compliant production. The position works across Packaging and Processing at both the 391 and 395 manufacturing facilities in Bloomingdale. The regular shift is 2:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; mandatory first-week training is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Production Lead helps coordinate production resources and schedules, troubleshoot equipment and process issues, verify production paperwork, inspect product, and communicate with supervisors, Quality Control, inventory control, and other departments. The role also contributes to SOPs, work instructions, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives while ensuring team members follow company, OSHA, food-safety, cGMP, and other applicable policies. The job involves working throughout manufacturing areas near moving mechanical parts and exposure to ingredients, herbal aromas, dust, airborne particles, and designated major food allergens (except peanuts). Some work areas have moderately loud noise or require hearing protection. The role also requires entering designated areas with strong magnetic fields, which may pose a danger to people wearing pacemakers, prostheses, or implants such as defibrillators. Physical duties include prolonged standing and walking, stair climbing, bending, squatting, kneeling, and regularly lifting, moving, pushing, pulling, or grasping items as described in the posting.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED and one year of related experience and/or training, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience in a manufacturing environment; food or pharmaceutical manufacturing experience is preferred by the posting’s qualifications section, while manufacturing experience is stated as required.
Knowledge of work centers within the area of responsibility to make daily resource-allocation and scheduling decisions.
Knowledge of Packaging and/or Processing machine capabilities and manufacturing processes, with the ability to troubleshoot machines.
Ability to collaborate across departments on policy and procedure updates and validation, product dispositions, and hold and deviation investigations.
Ability to coach and lead team members, investigate and escalate efficiency losses, and consistently meet quality, safety, and efficiency goals.
Excellent problem-solving skills and strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
Ability to motivate, lead, and give clear directions; build teams; communicate effectively; and maintain attention to detail and high-quality work.
Strong time-management skills, ability to prioritize and handle multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment, sense of urgency, and flexibility to change tasks and work centers or locations as business needs require.
Professional and ethical conduct, accountability, ability to lead by example, and consistent adherence to company policies and procedures, including safety policies.
Ability to work at both the 391 and 395 manufacturing facilities in Bloomingdale, in Packaging and Processing.
Ability to communicate verbally and in writing, read and comprehend instructions and procedure manuals, accurately complete sanitation and production paperwork, and present information to individuals and small groups.
Ability to perform basic arithmetic with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals; understand weights and measures; use digital and balancing scales; and compute rates, ratios, and percentages.
Ability to operate hand-operated electronic lifting equipment (Interthor).
Intermediate proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel.
Ability to work a flexible schedule, including off shifts and weekends, to support the business.
Ability to meet the described physical demands, including prolonged standing and walking; entering information into a computer; climbing stairs; handling, reaching, bending, squatting, and kneeling; and lifting, moving, pushing, pulling, and grasping items at the stated levels.

Nice To Haves

Additional post-secondary education.
Prior team leadership experience.
Experience operating blending, processing, and packaging machinery or equipment.
Knowledge of Lean principles.
Oracle proficiency.
Bilingual verbal and written Spanish skills.

Responsibilities

Monitor shift performance and efficiency, correct or escalate issues, and keep the supervisor informed of problem areas.
Recommend and implement improvements to safety, product quality, production methods, equipment performance, staffing, and efficiency.
Coordinate with other leads, supervisors, support teams, and departments to resolve issues and obtain supplies, products, and equipment needed for production schedules.
Adjust employee work duties and make product-run decisions; assign jobs and tasks under the Production Supervisor’s direction and monitor the production process.
Train and orient new production employees, answer employee questions, and coach and develop team members on correct processes and procedures.
Develop or assist with SOPs, work instructions, and One Point Lessons under supervisor or manager direction and review.
Operate production machinery proficiently and direct machine setup and adjustments.
Review and verify employee paperwork before submission to Quality Control; complete production records and reports accurately and legibly, and report raw-material discrepancies to inventory control.
Inspect products for conformance to specifications and make deviation decisions when products are out of specification.
Interpret company policies, specifications, and job orders for employees.
Participate in root-cause analysis and plant continuous-improvement initiatives, and recommend and help implement improvement ideas.
Ensure the Production team follows OSHA guidelines, safety policies, food-safety requirements, cGMP guidelines, and other applicable policies and procedures.
Support safe production practices, participate in safety activities, provide and accept constructive safety feedback, report incidents and hazards, use required PPE, and participate in safety teams or activities.