Plant Superintendent - 2nd Shift

POSITION SUMMARY

The Plant Superintendent oversees daily plant operations to ensure production goals, safety standards, food quality, and regulatory compliance are consistently met. Provides leadership to production teams, supports continuous improvement initiatives, and drives operational efficiency across all departments.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

• Direct and coordinate daily production activities to meet schedule, yield, quality, and cost targets.
• Ensure compliance with USDA, OSHA, HACCP, GMP, and company food safety requirements.
• Lead, mentor, and develop supervisors and frontline teams.
• Monitor equipment performance, downtime, and maintenance needs; partner with Maintenance for timely corrective actions.
• Manage staffing levels, labor planning, and workflow to support operational demand.
• Review KPIs including yields, throughput, waste, variances, and labor efficiency; implement corrective actions.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives related to safety, quality, and productivity.
• Conduct regular plant walk-throughs to ensure safety, housekeeping, and process discipline.
• Assist with investigations, root-cause analyses, and corrective action plans.
• Foster effective communication between Production, QA, Maintenance, Sanitation, and HR.
• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS (Knowledge, Skills, and Experience)

• Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Meat Science, Industrial Engineering, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred)
• 4 years of production management experience in meat or food processing.
• Strong knowledge of USDA regulations, HACCP, GMPs, and food safety/quality management systems.
• Proven ability to lead in a fast-paced, multi-shift, high-volume manufacturing environment.
• Solid understanding of production workflows, yields, and lean principles.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Strong communication and leadership presence with the ability to influence at all organizational levels.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and experience with ERP/manufacturing systems.
• Ability to read, write and communicate in English with strong verbal communication skills. Knowledge of Spanish is helpful, but not required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. 

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to have a full range of body motion including twisting, bending, reaching outward, pushing, pulling, intensive hand/wrist movement and lifting to meet the NSP minimum required pounds per day which is up to 50 pounds (unassisted). The employee must be able to walk and stand for a significant amount of time on even concrete surfaces, which may at times be slippery due to marinades, water, and other liquids associated with the production process. 

Due to noise levels in the work environment, the use of hearing protection is required.  The employee must have good, corrected vision to see details at close range or at a distance. The employee will be working in a climate-controlled environment of -40ºF to -45ºF. The employee may be exposed to strong odors such as raw meat and marinades from seasoned meat.               

While in the production area, the employee is required to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to include hair and beard nets, rubber soled shoes, smocks, hearing protection and hard hats.