Production Manager

Kraft Heinz•Jacksonville, FL

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Production Manager plans, organizes, directs, and controls the plant production function across Packaging and Processing. The role translates business priorities into executable operating plans, ensures compliance with food safety, quality, safety, labor, and regulatory requirements, and owns performance across Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, People, and Sustainability. The manager is expected to understand operational economics, make fact-based decisions, remove barriers to performance, and run Packaging and Processing as an integrated value stream. The position leads KHMS and the plant operating system, including daily management, leader standard work, tiered accountability, visual management, standard work, and structured problem solving. It owns production-plan execution, operational performance, reliability, continuous improvement, departmental budgets, productivity commitments, and people development. The manager partners across plant and business functions to solve operational issues and communicate risks and recovery plans. Based at the Maxwell House Jacksonville Plant, the role requires regular presence on the production floor and flexibility to support a multi-shift, 24/5 manufacturing operation. The position may require responding to critical business needs outside normal working hours.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, Food Science, Supply Chain, or a related field; equivalent relevant manufacturing leadership experience may be considered.
At least 7 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including significant leadership responsibility.
Demonstrated experience leading people and performance across multiple production areas, shifts, or value streams.
Strong working knowledge of Lean manufacturing, daily management systems, standard work, structured problem solving, OEE, and loss elimination.
Demonstrated ability to manage safety, quality, service, cost, labor, and reliability as an integrated business system.
Ability to lead in a 24/7 operating environment and respond to critical business needs outside normal working hours.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience implementing or advancing KHMS in a manufacturing operation.
Lean Six Sigma certification or an equivalent record of leading Lean transformation and sustained productivity delivery.
Experience in both packaging and processing operations, including high-speed filling, material handling, thermal processing/roasting, or comparable technologies.
Experience working in a union manufacturing environment.
Financial acumen, including budgeting, variance management, productivity validation, and capital justification.

Responsibilities

Lead KHMS as the operating system, sustaining daily management systems, leader standard work, tiered accountability, visual management, standard work, and structured problem solving.
Assess KHMS maturity across Packaging and Processing, identify capability gaps, and develop a roadmap tied to measurable business results.
Ensure KPIs, losses, actions, ownership, and due dates are understood at every operating tier; use PDCA, root-cause analysis, and loss elimination to prevent recurrence.
Build a culture of continuous improvement in which employees identify abnormalities, solve problems at the appropriate level, and protect standards.
Own safety performance through visible leadership, risk identification, escalation, corrective action, and adherence to Life Saving Rules and plant safety standards.
Ensure production complies with GMPs, SOPs, Kraft Heinz specifications, food safety requirements, and applicable regulations; lead audit readiness and corrective-action follow-through.
Partner with Quality to reduce defects, consumer complaints, rework, holds, giveaway, and recurring failures through problem solving and process control.
Maintain high standards for sanitation, housekeeping, product protection, and process discipline.
Own production-plan execution across roasting/processing and packaging, delivering schedule attainment, service, throughput, yield, labor productivity, and cost targets.
Lead daily and weekly operating reviews, identify constraints, and ensure recovery plans are specific, resourced, and time-bound.
Partner with Maintenance and Engineering to improve OEE, basic equipment care, planned maintenance, chronic losses, and startup reliability.
Optimize labor and production schedules based on demand, line capability, changeovers, maintenance, material availability, and cost.
Ensure effective shift handoffs, escalation, and cross-functional communication across the 24/7 operation.
Apply Lean principles and tools to improve flow, eliminate waste, reduce variability, shorten changeovers, stabilize processes, and increase asset utilization.
Build and prioritize a loss pipeline and convert improvement opportunities into sustained productivity, capacity, quality, and cost results.
Coach teams in standard work, 5S, visual management, centerlining, SMED, problem solving, and Kaizen methods; embed improvements into standards, training, ownership, and management routines.
Own departmental budget performance and explain variances related to labor, overtime, productivity, yield, materials, packaging supplies, product weights, sanitation, and operating losses.
Understand conversion cost and operational levers affecting margin, service, inventory, and working capital.
Develop annual operating plans and productivity commitments, track benefits, and take corrective action when performance is off plan.
Develop business cases for capital, resources, and improvement work based on risk, return, capacity, and strategic value.
Lead, coach, and develop production leaders with clear expectations for safety, standards, decision quality, urgency, executive presence, and accountability.
Build an inclusive, high-performance organization with succession plans, technical capability, and ownership at every level.
Partner with hourly employees and union leadership while maintaining standards, contractual compliance, and respectful employee relations.
Ensure employees are qualified through structured training, skills development, and verification of capability; recognize strong performance and address gaps promptly.
Partner with Supply Planning, Quality, Maintenance, Engineering, R&D, Procurement, Warehouse, Finance, HR, and suppliers to solve end-to-end business problems.
Communicate operational risks, decisions, tradeoffs, and recovery plans clearly to plant and business leadership.
Lead change by connecting its rationale with operating expectations, capability plans, and accountability.