The Plant Manager will organize and oversee the daily operations of the Itasca plants. This individual ensures that our business is well-coordinated and productive by managing its procedures and coaching its people. The ideal candidate must be competent in and able to plan a variety of operational activities. In addition, the Plant Manager must be an excellent leader who can discover the most efficient ways to run the operations and empower people. The goal of this individual is to safeguard and augment the efficiency of the company’s operations to facilitate accelerating development and long-term success.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Plan, coordinate and manage the entire plant and its staff in such a manner as to ensure that all company objectives and production goals are continually met.
• Ensue collaboration between 2 sites within ¼ mile of each other.
• Assess operation, equipment and staff and drive continuous improvements to attain critical Safety, Quality, Operations and Financial KPI’s.
• Champion and drive the LEAN initiative and be the ambassador for LEAN and the organization.
• Provide recommendations for improvement and be able to successfully implement necessary changes.
• Ensure an effective machine and facility maintenance program is in place and closely adhered to.
• Develop a close partnership with the Quality Manager/Quality Department and ensure operations and maintenance are held accountable and in compliance with the QMS (Quality Management System) and Regulatory requirements for food grade packaging.
• Collaborate with the Quality Manager and other site Quality Managers to establish consistent guidelines and schedules for the inspection and testing of finished goods, WIP and production materials.
• Collect and document KPI data for mitigating risk, driving improvements and achieving/exceeding target goals.
• Ensure all employees are aligned and compliant with company/site policies.
• Lead the 2-site safety program and safety team to maintain safety metrics with a goal of ensuring employees go home as healthy as when they arrived at work.
• Provide clear communication with the maintenance and operations team to ensure expectations are clear, concise and adhered to.
• Provide support to the Quality Manager for all audits, trials and validations.
• Ensure that staff strictly adheres to all safety rules, guidelines and procedures.
• Position reports to head of operations.

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Business or relevant field
• 5-7 years of experience in operations management, preferably in paper or plastic packaging and/or flexographic printing
• Proven experience as Plant Manager or equivalent position
• Excellent organizational and leadership abilities
• Outstanding communication and people skills
• Working knowledge of data analysis and performance/operation metrics