Plant Manager (United Ethanol)

Position Summary

The Plant Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for all aspects of plant operations, ensuring production efficiency, product quality, regulatory compliance, asset management, equipment reliability, cost control, and workplace safety. This role is accountable for meeting production, budget, and process improvement targets, driving manufacturing optimization, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and team development.

Duties & Responsibilities

• With strategic focus, leads and directs all aspects of day-to-day operations in the plant including daily production, maintenance, quality control, planning and logistics, and project execution
• Provide direct oversight for the operations management team including production, maintenance, warehouse, quality and logistics.
• Prepare and manage annual capital expenditure and operating budgets.
• Attend monthly board of managers meetings.
• Collaboration with VP of Ops, CEO, CFO and Human Resources in Corporate Headquarters.
• Execute plant-specific strategic objectives to assure continuous improvement and alignment with industry objectives.
• Support and maintain company marketing strategies of ethanol and ethanol by products.
• Ensure systems and processes are optimizing productivity standards, metrics and performance targets to minimize waste and labor costs.
• Ensure all quality standards, specifications and policies are met or exceeded while seeking continuous process and manufacturing improvements.
• Maintains and adheres to quality standards in the plant that satisfy the requirements of ISO standards.
• Recommend hiring and then train and develop employees in support of a culture of highly functioning, engaged team.
• Direct plant operational policies and procedures and leads plant safety initiates and instills safety-based behaviors in constant pursuit of zero time lost-time and incidents. Will be the primary onsite contact with local & state authorities and ensure adherence to all legal and regulatory aspects of running the operation: OSHA, EPA, DNR, etc.
  
  

Qualifications

• 5 years prior manufacturing experience required, preferably in ethanol production, or feed/food/chemical related processing plant knowledge.
• Demonstrated progressive leadership growth with 4 years’ experience in a significant leadership role in a plant environment role.
• Manufacturing experience in an ethanol refining plant or related processing plant experience.
• Bachelor's Degree recommended (i.e. Business, Industrial Management, Engineering, Refining or Food Science, Management, Operations) or equivalent work experience.
  
  

Business Acumen

• Technical Knowledge and Skills – Experience with bioprocessing or related industrial production (crushing, refinery, ethanol production, etc.); experience with large scale production equipment, automation, troubleshooting, repairs, and oversite of key vendors; combined technical and process (chemistry, bioprocess) understanding important to have success in this position.
• Building a Successful Team - Using appropriate methods and a flexible interpersonal style to help build a cohesive team and facilitate the completion of team goals; facilitates goal accomplishment and provides necessary resources or helps to remove obstacles to team accomplishments; listens to and fully involves others in team decisions and actions; values and uses individual differences and talents; models commitment and demonstrates personal commitment to the team.
• Planning and Organizing - Establishing courses of action for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently. Prioritizes, determines project/assignment requirements by breaking them down into tasks and identifying types of equipment, materials, and people needed; leverages resources and takes advantage of available resources (individuals, processes, departments, and tools) to complete work efficiently; coordinates with internal and external partners.
• Decision Making - Identifying and understanding issues, problems, and opportunities; comparing data from different sources to draw conclusions; using effective approaches for choosing a course of action or developing appropriate solutions; taking action that is consistent with available facts, constraints, and probable consequences.
• Innovative - Generating innovative solutions in work situations; trying different and novel ways to deal with work problems and opportunities.
  
  

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to working near moving mechanical parts.
• The employee is occasionally exposed to wet or humid conditions; must be able to climb ladders and work in high, precarious places; and in all outdoor weather conditions.
• The employee may be occasionally exposed to high noise environments.
• The employee must be able to lift up to 50 lbs.