Department Manager

At Russell Stover, not only do we love chocolate, but we love our jobs! Every day we go to work exhibiting our values of excellence, innovation, entrepreneurship, responsibility, and collaboration. Working at Russell Stover you'll be part of the leading manufacturer of boxed, seasonal, and sugar-free chocolates. For over 100 years, Russell Stover Chocolates, Whitman's, and Pangburn's have been crafted with the finest ingredients to bring happiness to generations.

Today, we produce over 55 million pounds of chocolate annually, and our legacy brands can be found in 13 company-owned stores and over 9,000 wholesale accounts. Join our team and let's continue making chocolate lovers happy!

A day in the life...

Step into a high-impact leadership role where every day brings new challenges and opportunities to shine! As the Department Manager
, you'll be at the heart of our production powerhouse-driving performance, optimizing resources, and ensuring we deliver top-quality products on time and on budget. You'll lead a talented team, championing a culture of safety and quality, excellence, and continuous improvement. Your mission? To meet ambitious production goals, exceed quality standards, and inspire your team to reach new heights-all while keeping efficiency and innovation front and center.

If you're ready to lead with purpose, make data-driven decisions, and leave a lasting mark on our operations, this is your moment.

What you will be doing...

Leadership & Team Development

• Drive Strategic Alignment & Performance:
  Champion company goals by aligning departmental objectives, applying lean methodologies to reduce waste, and leading continuous improvement initiatives that support long-term strategic plans.
• Develop and Lead High-Performing Teams:
  Recruit, train, and coach both supervisory and hourly staff, fostering a culture of accountability, growth, and high performance through ongoing feedback and development.
• Ensure Operational Excellence:
  Enforce adherence to SOPs and COPs, and build strong cross-functional relationships to ensure seamless communication and execution across operations.

Safety & Quality Excellence

• Champion a zero-incident culture by embedding safety into leadership practices, operational decisions, and employee engagement.
• Lead cross-functional safety reviews, risk assessments, ensure accountability at all levels, and drive strategic initiatives that elevate safety performance.
• Adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to ensure product quality and maintain compliance with food safety standards.
• Complete and follow FSQA training and programs to comply with regulatory requirements, ensure consumer safety, and support the plant's food safety and quality objectives.
• Promptly report and take appropriate action on any observed or potential food safety hazards, process deviations, or non-conformities by notifying the designated plant supervisor, in accordance with your role and responsibilities.
• Actively contributes to the continuous improvement of the company's Food Safety Culture through engagement and actions aligned with your role.

Fiscal Responsibility & Operational Responsibility

• Drive operational efficiency by minimizing waste, rework, and downtime.
• Monitor labor budgets and ensure compliance with direct and indirect labor targets.
• Assist in developing and managing the department's annual budget and capital projects.
• Optimize production schedules to reduce changeovers and maximize throughput.
• Align maintenance activities with production needs to minimize disruptions.
• Strategically plan staffing based on production demands and standard rates.

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Engage in TPM pillar teams and support continuous improvement initiatives
• Use lean tools like Gemba, 5S, 5-Why, and Kaizen to monitor performance and reduce waste.
• Coach employees in root cause analysis and critical thinking to empower process ownership.
• Build autonomous, agile teams that embrace change and drive innovation in production, quality, safety, and maintenance.

This job posting is not all inclusive and other duties may be assigned.

Do you have what it takes?

(Required Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree or…