Operations Manager

Job Title: Operations Manager

Location: Mishawaka, IN

Department: Mishawaka Plant Management

Job Type: Salary

About United Petfood:

United Petfood is a private label producer of high-quality dry & wet pet food, biscuits and snacks. We are a Belgian family business with 25 high-tech pet kitchens in Europe and the US. 

Joining us, means joining an international, passionate and driven team with one common goal: a healthy planet filled with healthy pets! But it doesn’t stop there: we truly care about building encouraging, supportive, long-lasting partnerships, both inside as well as outside of our fast-growing family company. By only working with the very best ingredients and most innovative technology available, we ensure a spot in which you can grow, bloom and make thousands of pets happy worldwide!

Position Summary: The Operations Manager is a salaried, exempt position reporting to the Director of Plant Operations, and is located at our Mishawaka facility. This individual directs and manages all plant operations with overall responsibilities for production, packaging, plant scheduling, raw and packaging material expediting, raw and packaging material inventory accuracy and other production-related activities, as well as strong support to quality functions. The Operations Manager organizes activities and assigns jobs according to efficient and effective utilization of the staff.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Coordinate plant activities through planning with department managers to ensure total manufacturing objectives are accomplished in a timely and cost-effective manner
• Establish and monitor overall plant performance for production standards
• Motivate staff to nurture an empowered team environment
• Develop supervisory staff in first-line management competencies, and interpersonal skills
• Work closely with the Materials Manager to ensure case fill and other customer-centric measures are met and exceeded
• Provide leadership and training to accomplish the company goals and objectives
• Incorporate shop floor organization and plant cleanliness among plant personnel via visual workplace initiatives 
• Provide direction development and leadership to production supervisors
• Plan all operations resources and activities in keeping with the company’s objectives and targets
• Plan staff development by performing gap assessments, setting up developmental plans and organizing training
• Ensures personnel are properly trained to fulfill their essential duties and responsibilities
• Ensures effective employee relations by providing employee coaching and development; and resolving employee issues through problem resolution
• Ensures that all operating procedures and standards are established and followed
• Demonstrates initiative in accomplishing objectives and serving as a positive leadership model to other employees
• Maintains a change-oriented work culture where employee concerns are addressed and the operational objectives are realized
• Participates in routine audits and assist in the development of procedures & corrective actions
• Monitors and controls the department budget in accordance with the annual operating plan
• Understand the budget and implement continuous improvement activities with the team to reduce cost, improve delivery and eliminate quality defects in the product being shipped or the data
• Partners with the leadership team on continuous improvement activities in areas of employee health & safety, quality & food safety, and productivity
• Other duties as assigned

Workplace Safety:

• Completes safety system documentation and verifies compliance to program standards. Reports deviations to Supervisor. 
• Participates in mandatory safety trainings and adheres to all safety policies
• Required to report all safety issues, near misses, and injuries

Quality & Food Safety:

• Completes quality & food safety system documentation and verifies compliance to program standards. Reports deviations to Supervisor.
• Participates in mandatory food safety and quality training program requirements
• Preserves the integrity of the BRC system through adherence to the policies and procedures outlined. Takes actions necessary to resolve food safety and quality system deficiencies
• Required to report food safety and quality system failures and take actions necessary to preserve the BRC system.

Position Requirements:

Education and Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree in management, engineering, technology or science required
• A minimum of 8 years of direct management and supervisory experience in a manufacturing plant. 
• Experience in a food industry is a plus. Pet food experience is highly preferred.

Leadership Abilities: 

• Great leadership skills with drive to motivate and direct plant operations
• Well-developed organizational skills
• Good knowledge of business finances, budgets and contracts
• Top-notch communication and supervisor skills
• Good computer skills and knowledge of how an enterprise database and plant floor control system operates

Additional Technical Skills: 

• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals in English
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence in English
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization in English
• Able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals
• Able to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs
• Solves practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists
• Interprets a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form

Physical Demands & 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 job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions:

• Walk and talk or hear
• Stand, climb or balance
• Sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl and taste or smell
• Lift and/or move up to 50 pounds

• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform their responsibilities in an environment with:

• Moving mechanical parts
• Humid conditions, airborne particles and extreme heat
• Elevation, outside weather conditions and extreme cold

Equal Opportunity Employer: United Petfood Producers USA Inc. is an equal opportunity workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.