Keokuk Plant Manager

Position Summary

Plant Manager to lead Keokuk, Iowa Manufacturing Plant, responsible for full-site leadership, safety, production, maintenance, asset performance, and organizational capability development. Drives a culture of accountability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

• Operational Leadership & Strategy:
  Lead and manage all manufacturing, production, maintenance, utilities, and EHS functions for the Keokuk facility.
• Champion a culture of operational discipline, continuous improvement, and data-driven decision making.
• Apply Lean, Six Sigma, and structured problem solving to improve throughput, asset reliability, yield, and cost performance.
• Lead major change-management initiatives, ensuring teams understand the “why,” adopt new ways of working, and sustain improvements.
• Partner closely with Supply Chain, Procurement, Quality, R&D, and business teams to enable reliable end-to-end product flow.
• Drive customer-back thinking and anticipate customer needs through proactive planning, scenario analysis, and risk management to strengthen partnership with the Commercial Team.
• Collaborate with global and regional operations leaders to share best practices, replicate standards, and contribute to broader manufacturing excellence.
• Sponsor Lean Six Sigma projects and actively participate in frequent project reviews.
• Implement and sustain operational excellence systems, metrics, and visual performance management.
• Build a strong leadership bench by recruiting, developing, coaching, and retaining high-performing talent.
• Maintain and continuously improve the site’s safety culture, ensuring compliance with Roquette’s expectations and regulatory requirements.

• Education:
  
  Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering (or relevant engineering field), or operations management required. An advanced degree (MBA or Engineering) preferred.
• Experience:
  
  15+ years of operational leadership in manufacturing; experience in corn wet milling or complex continuous chemical/food process manufacturing strongly preferred.
• Experience leading in a manufacturing environment including managing a large asset of size or scope compatible with Roquette’s platform.
• Minimum 5 years as a senior production leader/site manager in a relevant manufacturing environment.
• Expertise in strategy development, cost management, and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to manage capital expenditures, budgeting and expense control, forecasting plant performance metrics.
• Demonstrated success in leading major change initiatives, improving production performance and cost structure.
• Ability to work effectively in a matrix organization and collaborate with other functions including commercial, R&D, finance, etc.
• Key competencies: business acumen, intellectual horsepower, process management, managing diverse and challenging relationships.
• Commitment to EHS development and compliance.

Estimated base salary range: $185,000 - $280,000. Eligible for short-term and long-term performance-based incentive compensation based on skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Roquette is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. AAP, EEO, Drug-Free Workplace.