Position Summary
Reporting into the Production Manager, this role involves supervising hourly processing employees (Batchers, Assistant Batchers, Relief Batchers, and Press Operators). Responsibilities include scheduling workloads, maintaining close communication with production to address and prevent quality and safety issues, providing coaching and training to foster a food safety culture, reviewing and revising SOPs, and conducting HACCP monitoring and facility inspections.
Primary Responsibilities
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Supervise Processing Associates during shifts.
- Understand blending processes related to ingredients, weights, mixing, process flow, and analytical checks.
- Communicate daily production schedules, key issues, and challenges to Processing Associates.
- Complete ingredient and raw material inventory.
- Ensure good manufacturing practices, quality, and safety standards are implemented and monitored during production.
- Identify and resolve bottlenecks in processing.
- Document, analyze, and trend data on batching, ingredient waste, maintenance issues, safety issues, employee issues, and other incidents.
- Implement food quality and safety standards, laws, good manufacturing practices, training, and continuous improvement.
- Ensure availability of processing resources (materials, equipment, personnel) to maintain production schedules.
- Identify and document skills, performance opportunities, learning needs, and attendance of each Processing Associate, and provide routine training.
- Consistently train all associates, including temporary employees, in required standards and expectations.
- Maintain a clean, safe, and positive work environment.
- Manage processing performance against plant goals in safety, quality, cost, and waste.
- Develop and implement safe work practices with the management team to achieve zero recordable and lost time accidents.
- Exhibit strong interpersonal skills and work well with everyone.
- Ensure fair and consistent application of policies, procedures, and discipline.
- Enforce food safety and quality production standards as per SQF, OSHA, FDA, and EPA regulations, and ensure associates are trained and compliant.
- Promote a culture of food safety and quality.
- Taste test products as needed, up to a couple of ounces per test.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities
- Manage 4-10 employees.
- Recruit, select, orient, and train employees; maintain a safe, secure, and legal work environment; develop personal growth opportunities.
- Communicate job expectations; plan, monitor, and assess job results; coach and counsel employees; develop, coordinate, and enforce systems, procedures, and productivity standards.
- Establish strategic goals; identify and evaluate trends; choose a course of action; define objectives; evaluate outcomes.
- Possess excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Be detail-oriented and able to multi-task.
- Have excellent time management skills.
Knowledge, Training, and Experience
- Associate's Degree in Production or Engineering or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
- Five years of production manufacturing experience required; food manufacturing preferred.
- Three years of supervisory experience in a food manufacturing environment.
- Supervisory experience in a union environment is a plus.
- Working knowledge of batching and CIP equipment and systems.
- Working knowledge of food safety and quality standards and regulations such as SQF, and environmental and safety regulations.
- Proficiency in English (read, write, speak); excellent written, oral, and listening skills.
- Knowledge of regulations from major vendors and governmental agencies such as FDA, OSHA, and EPA.
- Basic mathematical skills for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing, combined with analytical skills for tracking and trending data to guide decisions and communications.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office programs including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
- Ability to facilitate cross-functional teams.
- Ability to effectively present information to top management.
- Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
Physical Requirements & Working Conditions
This position requires sufficient physical ability to work in a production setting.
Frequent:
- Ability to talk and hear; stand, walk, climb stairs, stoop, bend, crouch; push/pull; lift up to 50 pounds; use hands and fingers to operate machinery/equipment and all manual and electronic equipment in the area of responsibility.
- Exposure to wet and humid conditions and fluctuations in ambient temperature (seasonal).
- Squatting, kneeling, ability to reach above and at shoulder height.
- Ability to wear a dust mask.
- Exposure to toxic and corrosive chemicals.
Vision:
- Ability to use close and distance vision, as well as color and peripheral vision with or without correction.
- Must be able to visually detect obstacles and potential dangers in a fast-paced production environment involving high-speed equipment and powered industrial lift equipment.
Hearing:
- Ability to hear in the normal audio range with or without correction.
- Exposure to noise levels from pumps, machinery, forklift traffic, bottle lines, and exhaust fans.
