What are the responsibilities and job description for the Processing Manager position at Shinkei?
About The Role
We are seeking an experienced and hands-on Processing Manager to lead our seafood processing operations from raw material receiving through finished goods dispatch. This role is responsible for planning, supervising, and continuously improving day-to-day production activities to ensure efficient use of labor, materials, and equipment while meeting the highest standards for quality, food safety, and operational excellence.
The ideal candidate brings deep experience in seafood processing, strong people leadership, and a track record of driving throughput, yields, and consistency in a fast-paced production environment.
What You’ll Do
Lead Daily Production Operations
Required Experience
Technical / Operational Skills
We are seeking an experienced and hands-on Processing Manager to lead our seafood processing operations from raw material receiving through finished goods dispatch. This role is responsible for planning, supervising, and continuously improving day-to-day production activities to ensure efficient use of labor, materials, and equipment while meeting the highest standards for quality, food safety, and operational excellence.
The ideal candidate brings deep experience in seafood processing, strong people leadership, and a track record of driving throughput, yields, and consistency in a fast-paced production environment.
What You’ll Do
Lead Daily Production Operations
- Oversee execution of daily and weekly production plans across all operational stages, from receiving raw materials through finished product dispatch.
- Ensure production activities are completed in line with technical specifications, production targets, and customer requirements.
- Monitor workflow, output, and line performance to maintain schedule adherence and maximize throughput.
- Allocate labor, materials, and production resources effectively to meet operational goals.
- Track and improve key production metrics including yield, productivity, efficiency, and downtime.
- Identify bottlenecks and implement process improvements to increase performance and reduce waste.
- Lead, coach, and support frontline production staff to achieve safety, quality, and productivity goals.
- Foster a strong team culture grounded in accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Address day-to-day operational issues quickly and effectively to keep production running smoothly.
- Support staffing, scheduling, attendance oversight, and on-the-job training.
- Ensure all production activities are performed in compliance with company SOPs and applicable food safety and occupational safety standards.
- Maintain adherence to HACCP, sanitation protocols, and relevant U.S. regulatory requirements.
- Verify finished products consistently meet company and customer specifications for quality and food safety.
- Support corrective actions, root cause investigations, and process discipline when issues arise.
- Maintain accurate, timely production records and reporting, including yields, productivity, labor utilization, and operational performance.
- Ensure data is consistently available and up to date to support effective decision-making.
- Partner with leadership to review performance trends and drive operational improvements.
Required Experience
- 7 years of experience in production leadership within the seafood processing industry.
- Proven experience directly supervising frontline production teams in a manufacturing or food processing environment.
- Strong working knowledge of seafood processing workflows, line operations, and production controls.
- Demonstrated ability to improve production performance across yield, efficiency, labor utilization, quality, and safety.
- Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Industrial Engineering, Operations, or a related field preferred.
- Equivalent hands-on experience in seafood or food production leadership will also be considered.
Technical / Operational Skills
- Strong knowledge of seafood processing operations and production best practices.
- Understanding of production yields, labor efficiency, cost awareness, and operational metrics.
- Working knowledge of HACCP, food safety systems, sanitation, and U.S. health/regulatory requirements.
- Proficiency in Excel, Word, and basic production reporting tools.
- Ability to analyze production data and use it to improve operational performance.
- Strong people leadership and frontline team management skills.
- Effective communicator with the ability to align teams around priorities and standards.
- Highly organized with strong planning and execution capabilities.
- Analytical and solutions-oriented with sound judgment in fast-paced environments.
- Flexible, proactive, and adaptable to changing production needs.
- High level of accountability and follow-through.
- Production plans are executed safely, on time, and with minimal disruption.
- Yield, efficiency, and productivity targets are consistently met or improved.
- Product quality and food safety standards are maintained without compromise.
- The production team is engaged, well-managed, and operating with clear expectations.
- Accurate production data and reporting support strong day-to-day decision-making.
- This role is based in a seafood processing / manufacturing environment and requires regular time on the production floor.
- May involve standing for extended periods and working in cold, wet, or refrigerated conditions, depending on facility setup.
- Flexibility to support production schedules, including early mornings, evenings, or weekends as needed.