Senior Vice President of Manufacturing

Tulkoff Foods•Baltimore, MD

1d•$1 - $1

About The Position

The Senior Vice President of Manufacturing is a senior operating leader responsible for the safety, quality, productivity, and profitability of Tulkoff’s manufacturing network. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the role provides strategic and operational leadership across manufacturing facilities in Cincinnati, Toronto, and Baltimore, working through Site Directors to standardize best practices, drive continuous improvement, and scale capacity to meet customer demand. The Environmental Health & Safety Manager also reports to this role. This is a highly visible, hands-on leadership position that combines multi-site strategic direction with plant-floor problem solving. The successful candidate will bring deep food-manufacturing expertise, a track record of developing leaders, and a commitment to building a strong safety and quality culture. The role may be based at any of Tulkoff’s three manufacturing locations, depending on the candidate’s location. It requires extensive travel of more than 50% among the sites, with occasional travel to customer, supplier, or industry locations. Work takes place in both office and manufacturing plant-floor environments, including exposure to varying temperatures, noise, and food-production conditions. Appropriate PPE is required on the production floor. A valid passport and ability to travel across the U.S./Canada border are required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Food Science, Business, or a related field.
At least 10 years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience.
At least 5 years leading multiple sites or a plant network.
Experience owning EHS performance and building safety culture across manufacturing operations.
Experience in a regulated food-manufacturing environment, including applicable SQF/GFSI, HACCP, FDA, and/or CFIA requirements.
Track record leading Lean, Six Sigma, or similar continuous-improvement programs with measurable results.
Experience managing plant leaders or Site Directors as direct reports and developing talent and succession depth.
Strong financial acumen, including budget ownership, capital planning, and cost management.
Excellent leadership and communication skills, including the ability to influence executives and connect with frontline production teams.
Sound judgment and composure under pressure, with the ability to prioritize competing site and network needs.
Working knowledge of food-safety and quality systems, including SQF, HACCP, and GMP, and occupational safety regulations including OSHA and Canadian equivalents.
Proficiency with ERP/MES systems and manufacturing performance reporting tools.
Ability to travel extensively, more than 50%, among manufacturing sites and occasionally to customer, supplier, or industry locations.
Valid passport and ability to travel across the U.S./Canada border.

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree.
Experience in food, beverage, or CPG manufacturing.
Experience managing cross-border U.S./Canada operations.

Responsibilities

Set the strategic direction for the manufacturing network and translate company growth and commercial goals into an integrated manufacturing plan.
Lead, coach, and hold the three Site Directors accountable for performance in safety, quality, delivery, and cost.
Standardize manufacturing processes, KPIs, and reporting cadences across sites while allowing for local flexibility where needed.
Represent manufacturing on the senior leadership team and partner with the COO and peer executives on company strategy, capital investment, and capacity planning.
Evaluate and lead network capacity decisions, including capital projects, line additions, automation investments, and potential new-site or expansion planning.
Own network safety performance and culture, and lead and support the EHS Manager in developing and executing the EHS strategy.
Ensure compliance with applicable U.S. and Canadian occupational health and safety regulations, environmental permitting, and reporting obligations.
Promote employee-driven safety programs, incident investigation, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous improvement in safety outcomes.
Partner with Quality and Food Safety leadership to maintain GFSI-benchmarked certifications, HACCP plans, and customer and regulatory audit readiness.
Ensure GMPs, sanitation programs, and food defense protocols are followed across shifts and sites.
Support root-cause investigations and CAPA for quality and food-safety deviations, driving toward zero-defect performance.
Deploy Lean, Six Sigma, and TPM principles to improve throughput, reduce waste, and lower manufacturing costs.
Establish a common operating system across sites, including standard work, visual management, tiered daily accountability meetings, and structured problem solving.
Lead or sponsor process-improvement and automation initiatives and track benefits against business-case commitments.
Own the manufacturing network operating budget and partner with Finance and Site Directors on cost, labor, and productivity targets.
Develop and prioritize capital expenditures aligned with growth, reliability, safety, and quality priorities.
Identify and deliver cost-reduction and margin-improvement opportunities without compromising safety or quality.
Develop manufacturing leadership talent, particularly among Site Directors, and strengthen succession pipelines.
Foster a consistent, values-based culture that reinforces customer focus, teamwork, and continuous development.
Lead workforce planning, including labor strategy, staffing models, and applicable union or labor relations matters.
Partner with Supply Chain, Procurement, R&D/Innovation, Sales, and Quality to align manufacturing capabilities with launches, demand planning, and customer commitments.
Escalate and resolve cross-site operational issues, communicating clearly with the COO and broader leadership team.
Model customer focus, agile problem-solving, teamwork, entrepreneurial thinking, and continuous development.