Relief Operator

Mars•Chattanooga, TN

8d•Onsite

About The Position

The Relief Operator plays a crucial role in ensuring the continuity and efficiency of manufacturing operations. This position involves stepping in to cover scheduled breaks, providing support during outages or absences, and offering technical assistance on the packaging floor. The Relief Operator is responsible for upholding safety and quality standards, assisting with line changeovers and cleaning, maintaining production records, and acting as a Subject Area Expert (SAE) and On-the-Job Trainer (OJT). This role requires strong mechanical aptitude, operational agility, and a commitment to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and safety standards.

Requirements

Technical Background & Machinery Experience required.
High school diploma or equivalent education required.
Demonstrated hands-on operational experience with high-speed manufacturing or packaging machinery.
Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills to quickly identify mechanical faults, sensor errors, and process deviations.
Proven ability to lead by example, prioritize under dynamic floor conditions, and seamlessly transition across diverse workstations.
Strong working knowledge and personal commitment to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), OSHA/workplace safety standards, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Functional literacy with production tracking tools, digital verification platforms (e.g., Weever Forms), and learning management systems (e.g., Nexus).

Responsibilities

Step in seamlessly to cover scheduled break rotations across core stations to prevent bottlenecking and protect production targets.
Provide flexible frontline support during planned downtime, peak relief windows, or unexpected staffing gaps to sustain continuous manufacturing flow.
Champion overall area performance by offering hands-on assistance and directing floor priorities to achieve daily output targets.
Serve as the primary point of contact to rapidly diagnose and resolve minor equipment stoppages, system faults, or process deviations.
Uphold and reinforce standard operating procedures (SOPs), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and workplace safety across all assigned packaging cells.
Partner with Team Leads to stage materials, communicate schedules, and align the crew prior to line shutdowns.
Actively assist in mechanical changeover tasks and sanitization routines to minimize transition downtime between product runs.
Perform required post-task inspections and complete digital audit sign-offs via Weever Forms.
Assist with tracking raw batch records and tallying completed finished goods against shift targets.
Pull Work Orders (WOs) and audit run metrics directly through the Production Summary system.
Provide secondary leadership coverage to support administrative and operational shift management when required.
Act as the technical SME for equipment operation, process optimization, and troubleshooting best practices.
Drive team competency by pulling onboarding and standard training modules from Nexus and managing trainee qualification signoffs.
Drive ownership of Autonomous Maintenance initiatives, defect handling, and future pillar rollouts.