Team Leader

About the Company

Sugar Foods is a privately owned company with production facilities in Georgia, Massachusetts, California, and Mexico. Our products are sold and distributed throughout the U.S. and Canada. Sugar Foods manufactures and packages croutons, tortilla chips, crispy toppings, as well as cheese-based toppings. Additionally, Sugar Foods packages a variety of items including sugar, sweeteners, powdered creamer, and dried fruits and nuts. 

The Sugar Foods Way

At Sugar Foods, the Customer is King, and our team is our Family. The vision of Sugar Foods is for our products to be on every plate and in every cup. We continue to grow our business and adapt to changing business conditions to consistently provide value to our customers, our associates, and our community, by adhering to high standards of quality and safety and always acting in a respectful and responsible manner.

Position Summary for Production Team Lead

The Sugar Foods Villa Rica operation is a food manufacturing, packaging and distribution facility. Supervisors at Sugar Foods serve as owners of a designated process area and a shift. Supervisors are responsible for working hands-on with their Lead Operators and Operators on the floor to ensure the set-up, operation, basic maintenance, and technical troubleshooting of the lines in their area. Machines at Sugar Foods include blending equipment, high-speed packet filling lines, canister fabricating and filling lines, case packers, and case erectors, among others. The Villa Rica plant is a fast-paced 24-hour operation where Supervisors are expected to be on the floor working with their teams. Supervisors are expected to role model good judgement with an emphasis on safety first and attention to producing quality products. Supervisors are expected to follow standard work processes in-order-to maximize the effectiveness of their teams while always looking for opportunities for improvement. Supervisors must work closely with their Lead Operators, Operators, Line Associates, as well as their Maintenance and Quality Technicians on daily operations and continuous improvement projects.

Your Overall Responsibilities as a Sugar Foods Production Team Lead 

1. Effectively and consistently manage your team and your responsibilities to a standard. 
2. Walk to your floor with purpose and continuously engage your team members throughout the shift.
3. Learn and have functional understanding of the production lines you are responsible for
4. Develop your Lead Operators to engage their teams and be proactive problem solvers.
5. Drive overall performance of your lines to meet or exceed safe production goals.
6. Monitor and troubleshoot deviations and communicate with maintenance in real time.
7. Ensure your operators have the raw materials and tools they need to have a successful run. 
8. Manage schedules, attendance, and room head count to ensure timely start-up and hand-off. 
9. Ensure GMP’s and PPE are followed across your area at all times.
10. Manage breaks and provide break relief.
11. Manage start-up and hand-off to standard. 
12. Communicate and review shift reports every day with your shift hand-off counterparts.
13. Ensure material usage and waste is monitored and controlled.
14. Ensure all machines are set up and run correctly by your Operators to center line specifications.
15. Inspire and encourage team members with clear feedback and goals.
16. Celebrate success and appreciate the contributions of your team members.
17. Identify training needs by evaluating strengths and weaknesses of Operators.
18. Onboard, develop and train new hires.

What We Expect of a Sugar Foods Production Team Lead 

To be a successful Production Team Lead at Sugar Foods you must:

Get to Know Your People: In the first three months, it will be critical that you engage your team members and get to know them as individuals. As a Production Supervisor, your primary role is to set your team up for success, remove obstacles, and work through them to meet quality production goals safely. 

Commit to Your Schedule and Be Flexible with Time: The second shift runs from 5:00 p.m. to 5: 30 a.m., so being present at shift hand-offs will be critical to setting your team up for success. Supervising can also require working alternate shifts to cover for a colleague, coming in at off-hours to check-in on your team, and getting involved in side projects. We expect our supervisors to put in 10 to 12 hours a day for 5 days a week. Morning hand-off. 

Be Present and Accessible: The value we provide for our customers starts on our floor, which means our operators, packers, stackers, lift drivers, and sanitors are the foundation of our success. At Sugar Foods, we expect our Production Supervisors to spend 90 percent of their time on the floor with their teams guiding, coaching, mentoring, troubleshooting, holding team members accountable and appreciating their efforts. 

Treat Your Team Like Family: At Sugar Foods, we are a family and being family means listening to the needs of your team members, coaching and developing your people, and treating them with respect. 

Collaborate with Colleagues: At Sugar Foods, we are one team and we can only win as one team. This means collaborating, supporting, and assisting your colleagues and teammates whenever needed. 

Adapt as You Go: Sugar Foods is a dynamic and ever-growing company where flexibility is important. As we continue to expand, automate, and adapt to customer needs we expect our leaders to adjust to the needs of the business and their people. At Sugar Foods we believe in an all-hands-on-deck mentality when it comes to solving problems. As a leader at Sugar Foods, you may be asked to stretch your skills or work on projects that you may not have a lot of background in.

Job Specifications

The background we are looking for: 

1. Five (5) years of hands-on supervisory experience
2. Hands-on experience working in food processing and/or packaging.
3. Strong technical background in troubleshooting manufacturing equipment 
4. Experience onboarding, developing and coaching operators and technical staff. 

Your Specific Responsibilities as a Sugar Foods Production Team Lead 

Manage Start-up and Shift Hand-off from the Floor: 

1. Walk the floor with your Operators multiple times a day to trouble shoot and remove obstacles.
2. Assist your Lead Operator with start-up shift and hand-off.
3. Ensure your Lead Operators huddle with their counterparts from the previous shift to learn about challenges or concerns they may have encountered to ensure a smooth hand-off.
4. Review daily schedule and shift hand-off reports with your Lead Operator and properly prepare for the requirements of that day’s shift.
5. Make sure Operators communicate effectively with material handlers who supply your line to ensure you have the right materials for proper line set-up for your run.
6. Make sure Operators communicate effectively with line associates and temporary staff (packers and stackers) to ensure proper line set up (materials and settings) and schedule execution.
7. Ensure safety mechanisms are working, and the team understands and adheres to safety rules.

Keep Yourself and Your Teammates Safe 

1. Train team and ensure adherence to Sugar Foods safety rules. 
2. Maintain 5S in your area. 
3. Know your lock out/tag out procedure.
4. Ensure all machine safety devices are intact and working.
5. Share safety tips every day at shift hand-off. 

Delivering High Quality Products 

1. Own quality and strive for “First Time Quality” every time. 
2. Ensure machines and lines are properly set to produce to our quality standard.
3. Ensure Machine Operators are performing all required quality checks and record (scales, seal testing, package integrity…) 
4. Stop production of lines or machines when quality is not at expected level.
5. Seeking out Maintenance Technicians to get guidance when needed 
6. Train both Machine Operators and Line Associates on quality procedures and expectations

Sugar Foods LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The policy at Sugar Foods is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual's race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other categories protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.