Sr Manager, Technical Operations

McCain Foods USA•Plover, WI

12h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Process Center of Excellence – KEP is responsible for leading the development, deployment, and continuous improvement of McCain’s Key Elements of Processing operating system across manufacturing sites. This role acts as a bridge between global standards, regional execution, plant leadership, operators, Digital Manufacturing, Technical Operations, and external partners to ensure KEP is practical, repeatable, measurable, and sustainable at the site level. This position leads the creation and refinement of global KEP playbooks, maturity assessments, deployment documents, training materials, digital tools, and plant support models. The role supports Regional and Site Element Owners (REO & SEO) through deployment, hypercare, coaching, and governance to ensure Best Operating Practices are embedded into daily management routines and are connected to measurable improvements in safety, quality, cost, reliability, operator capability, and overall plant performance.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in plant manufacturing and processing
Strong manufacturing leadership experience with the ability to connect corporate standards to real plant-floor execution.
Deep understanding of potato processing, daily management systems, operational excellence, production leadership, technical operations, and plant performance improvement.
Ability to coach operators, frontline leaders, production managers, plant managers, and regional/global stakeholders.
Strong facilitation skills with the ability to lead cross-functional groups and deployment teams.
Ability to develop standards, playbooks, training materials, assessment tools, and digital processes that are simple enough for plant teams to use consistently.
Strong data-driven decision-making skills, including the ability to connect operational routines to KPIs and corrective actions.
Ability to influence without direct authority across plants, regions, functions, and global teams.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and standardization of KEP playbooks, maturity assessments, deployment guides, and repeatable implementation tools for global manufacturing use.
Own and support KEP deployment activities across sites, including pilot development, launch preparation, onsite coaching, hypercare, and post-deployment sustainment.
Serve as a Global Element Owner / subject matter leader for assigned KEP elements, including Operator Ownership and Empowerment, with responsibility for expectations, deliverables, training, and deployment consistency.
Coach plant leadership teams, REOs/SEOs, frontline leaders, and operators on KEP principles, daily direction setting, MDI cadence, operational standards, and problem-solving routines.
Partner with plant teams to translate global KEP expectations into practical shop-floor execution that operators can understand, use, and sustain in their environment.
Support plant performance improvement by connecting KEP tools to measurable operational outcomes, including quality, recovery, throughput, downtime reduction, process stability, waste reduction, and capability building.
Lead and support hypercare activities at deployment sites by observing routines, identifying gaps, coaching leaders, reinforcing standards, and helping the site move from launch to ownership.
Develop and improve digital systems that support KEP execution, including adherence tracking, KPI visibility, TSU screen standardization, OSI PI alignment, decision trees, and corrective-action workflows.
Partner with Digital Manufacturing, Technical Operations, Global Manufacturing Excellence, outside consulting, plant leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders to align KEP tools, data systems, and deployment methods.
Train and onboard REOs and site leaders on KEP deployment expectations, playbook usage, assessment methods, governance routines, and sustainment requirements.
Use maturity assessments and plant feedback to identify gaps in adoption, improve deployment materials, and strengthen global repeatability.
Support lighthouse and pilot deployments by turning learnings from Lighthouse sites into standard work for future global rollouts.
Create alignment between global standards and regional/site execution so KEP is not just a corporate program, but a practical operating system used by plant teams.