Vice President of Operations

JOB TITLE: Vice President of Operations-KFI

JOB PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

Lead all operational activities at KFI to ensure reliable customer fulfillment, strong operational discipline, and a culture grounded in safety, quality, and continuous improvement. This role oversees production, maintenance, engineering, scheduling, materials management, warehouse, purchasing/MRP, quality, and safety. Responsible for developing and maintaining a high-performing leadership team while ensuring compliance with all regulatory, food safety, and corporate requirements.

Support and ensure compliance with all programs, policies, and procedures outlined in the Food Safety and Quality Management System. Fulfill assigned food safety and regulatory responsibilities in accordance with the SQF Food Safety Code, including promptly reporting any concerns to initiate corrective action. Actively contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, including 5S and EOS.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Customer Fulfillment & Production Reliability – 30%

• Ensure all customer orders are fulfilled On-Time/In-Full (OTIF) every week by leading the full end-to-end production execution and fulfillment process.

• Oversee the creation, alignment, and execution of the weekly and long-range Master Production Schedule (MPS) to ensure proper planning of labor, materials, equipment, and capacity.

• Maintain strict schedule adherence, minimizing unplanned changes and ensuring predictable, stable operations across all shifts.

• Partner closely with Supply Chain to verify demand accuracy, packaging and ingredient availability, inventory levels, and capacity constraints.

• Drive operational stability by ensuring consistent run rates, clean changeovers, proper line staffing, and accurate production reporting.

• Oversee coordination between Production, Warehouse, and Scheduling to ensure uninterrupted flow of materials and finished goods.

• Maintain proactive communication with Sales regarding customer requirements, production risks, constraints, missed orders, and recovery plans.

• Ensure effective execution of new product launches, customer transitions, and product changes, including verification of process capability, materials readiness, and equipment alignment.

-

2. Operational Excellence, Equipment Uptime & Cost Efficiency – 30%

• Own all operational KPIs including OEE, downtime, changeovers, throughput, yields, waste, rework, labor efficiency, and cost per unit.

• Lead a strong preventive and predictive maintenance program to ensure equipment reliability, reduced downtime, and long-term asset health.

• Oversee Engineering and Maintenance in equipment strategy, capital planning, technical development, and project execution.

• Manage materials management, purchasing/MRP, warehouse operations, and ingredient/packaging control to ensure accuracy and availability.

• Ensure strong people-planning: optimizing shift structure, staffing levels, overtime management, skill coverage, and contingency plans.

• Evaluate and manage capital projects, ensuring ROI targets, plant readiness, and alignment with strategic priorities.

• Drive continuous improvement using structured methodologies such as standard work, kaizen, root-cause analysis, 5S, and visual management.

• Partner closely with Finance to manage operational budgets, cost centers, standards, and monthly reporting accuracy.

ERP & Systems Discipline (Required Section Under Pillar 2)

• Serve as the operational owner for JustFoods ERP usage across Production, Warehouse, Scheduling, Purchasing/MRP, and Inventory Control.

• Ensure accurate, timely ERP data entry for all operational workflows, including:

o work order setup and closure

o BOM and recipe usage

o production reporting

o material movements (issue/return)

o waste and yield reporting

o inventory adjustments

o downtime tracking

• Partner with IT to troubleshoot issues, enhance workflows, and ensure system stability.

• Hold leaders and supervisors accountable for proper and disciplined use of ERP processes to support accurate planning, costing, traceability, and reporting.

• Drive operational data accuracy to enable reliable financials, correct inventory, improved scheduling accuracy, and meaningful KPI reporting.

• Ensure training, documentation, and SOPs exist for all ERP workflows used by Operations.

• Lead operational readiness and cross-functional alignment for any ERP upgrades, enhancements, integrations, or reporting improvements.

-

3. Safety & Quality Leadership – 20%

• Champion a zero-injury, zero-defect culture, ensuring compliance with all OSHA, SQF, FSMA, HACCP, GMPs, environmental, and regulatory requirements.

• Ensure safety programs, training, audits, and corrective actions are executed consistently and effectively across all shifts.

• Oversee process control disciplines and quality systems, ensuring no shortcuts, deviation management, and improved capability across the plant.

• Partner with QA and R&D to support new product launches, product changes, validations, and process capability assessments.

• Drive root-cause analysis for all safety and quality issues, ensuring timely and sustainable corrective and preventive actions.

• Ensure compliance with internal and external audits, and maintain readiness for customer, regulatory, and certification visits.

• Foster a culture where employees at all levels understand their role in food safety and workplace safety and are empowered to raise concerns.

-

4. Leadership, Culture & Team Development – 20%

• Build, lead, and retain a high-performing Operations leadership team with clear expectations, accountability, and shared ownership of plant performance.

• Provide ongoing coaching, performance management, corrective action, and development opportunities to direct reports and future leaders.

• Promote a culture of transparency, communication, and collaboration across Production, Maintenance, QA, Warehouse, Purchasing, Supply Chain, and Finance.

• Ensure consistent communication across shifts, improving alignment, clarity, and follow-through on priorities.

• Drive leadership behaviors that model respect, urgency, discipline, and ownership of results.

• Strengthen employee engagement and retention by supporting recognition, involvement, and clear communication of goals and expectations.

• Ensure succession plans are in place for all key operations roles and proactively develop internal talent.

• Create and maintain a culture of continuous improvement, empowering teams to identify opportunities and implement solutions.

____________________

TOTAL 100%

POSITION DIMENSIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Internal Contacts:

All officers, managers, supervisors, plant personnel and support staff

External Contacts:

Customers, vendors/suppliers, contractors, community officials, other food and beverage processors/packager, etc

Education Level and Focus:

Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, Manufacturing/Process Management, or a related field. A master’s degree (MBA or related) is strongly preferred but not required.

Years and Type of Related Experience Required:

Minimum 10 years of senior leadership experience overseeing production, plant operations, or multi-site manufacturing environments, including success managing large teams, complex operations, and challenging performance, quality, safety, or efficiency conditions. Experience leading transformational initiatives, implementing systems (e.g., ERP), and driving operational excellence is strongly preferred.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Uphold Kagome's Values:

Employee works well with others as a team and treats others with respect. Conducts self in a professional manner and exhibits the highest level of integrity. Maintains a positive attitude through good working relationships with our customers, visitors, and co-workers that emphasizes our commitment to good customer service.

Attendance:

Reliability and acceptable attendance is required. It is critical to be punctual and arrive on time for work and to meetings (if applicable).

Productivity:

Must consistently fulfill job responsibilities, knowing how to prioritize tasks and manage time effectively.

Employee Retention:

Build a culture employee and/or co-workers want to be a part of. Be helpful to others and work as a team toward company goals. Participate in an exceptional onboarding experience for new hires and ensure they have the necessary tools to succeed in their roles by welcoming and assisting them. Build employee engagement, recognize, and reward employees, provide avenues for professional development, and manage to retain.

Interpersonal and Communication:

Must possess excellent verbal and written communication skills in formal and informal settings. Must be able to direct and manage different levels of personnel in a cooperative and cohesive team. Ability to motivate staff and communicate information. Must be able to communicate effectively with co-workers and management team.