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Production Manager BEAR

United States
Mebane
The  Production Manager – BEAR leads our fruit rolls packaging department. This role responsible for leading operations, ensuring a safe workplace, consistent product quality, and the achievement of business objectives. The Production Manager is responsible for driving a culture of continuous improvement, supporting capacity expansion projects, and enabling future growth initiatives. This role provides direct leadership to supervisors and their teams, fostering engagement, accountability, and operational excellence. As a key member of the plant leadership team, this role contributes to overall site performance and operational excellence, while supporting strategic initiatives through KPI management, cross-functional collaboration, and occasional domestic and international travel.
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Job description

Organization and Supervision of the Production Environment
  • Oversee day-to-day operations, ensuring a safe, efficient, and high-performing environment.
  • Achieve and exceed production KPIs, including quality, safety, volume, efficiency, and hygiene targets.
  • Implement and enforce standard work instructions to guarantee consistency and compliance across shifts.
  • Proactively identify, propose, and implement improvement initiatives that enhance productivity, reduce waste, and improve employee safety and engagement.
  • Foster a “Safety First, Quality Always” culture, ensuring that end products consistently meet or exceed company standards and consumer expectations.
  • Maintain the cleanliness, condition, and organization of the production environment to meet all internal and external requirements.

 

Leadership, Training, and Workforce Development

 

  • Provide direct leadership to supervisors and their teams, cultivating a motivating and supportive culture that drives engagement and performance.
  • Ensure proper staffing levels, develop workforce capability, and actively participate in the selection and onboarding of new team members (supervisors, leads, production workers).
  • Develop training materials, tools, and documentation to support skills development and operational excellence.
  • Partner with HR to design and deliver training and learning events, while providing feedback on program effectiveness.
  • Actively influence the retention of employees by creating a culture of growth, recognition, and accountability.
  • Oversee and provide guidance for performance-management activities, including semi-annual reviews, annual reviews, coaching, disciplinary actions, and terminations.
  • Develop and execute an annual action plan for the production department and provide ongoing guidance to ensure successful delivery.

 

 

Quality and Compliance

  • Ensure operations comply with FSMA, FDA, and IFS standards.
  • Lead and support traceability exercises to validate quality and compliance readiness.
  • Partner with Quality and Food Safety teams to address deviations, implement corrective actions, and prevent recurrence.

 

 

Efficiency

  • Maximize production throughput while minimizing downtime and waste, using KPIs to monitor progress.
  • Implement and sustain continuous improvement tools (e.g., SMED, 5S, Root Cause Analysis).
  • Optimize shift planning, labor deployment, and resource allocation to ensure coverage and efficiency.
  • Support automation and digitalization initiatives to drive long-term productivity and modernization.

 

 

Cost & Waste Management

  • Control packaging costs through efficient labor and material management.
  • Monitor material usage and losses, ensuring variances are investigated and addressed.
  • Lead cost-saving initiatives to improve profitability while maintaining product quality.

 

Profile

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, or related field.
  • Minimum of 5-7 years of progressive experience in food manufacturing, packaging, or a related process industry.
  • Proven track record of managing large teams in a 24/7 high-volume manufacturing environment.
  • Knowledge of FSMA, FDA, and BRC standards is a plus
  • Demonstrated success in leading continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Spanish speaking is a plus.

 

Leadership & Behavioral Competencies

  • Ownership & Accountability – Takes full responsibility for production outcomes, ensuring alignment with plant and company goals.
  • People Leadership – Skilled at developing, coaching, and motivating supervisors and large hourly teams.
  • Continuous Improvement Mindset – Actively challenges the status quo and drives efficiency, quality, and safety improvements.
  • Strategic Agility – Balances day-to-day operational oversight with long-term planning and workforce development.
Factory SA

"Starting out as a small-town boy with big dreams but few opportunities, my journey took a remarkable turn when Lotus became part of my life. At Lotus, you're empowered to dream big and achieve the success you've always hoped for."

Jade Morilly

Jade Morilly

Supply Chain Planning Manager

Offer

To be determined.

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