Sr. Manager of Food Manufacturing

Colony Brands, Inc. is one of North America’s largest and most successful direct marketing catalog and e‑Commerce companies. Our company has grown from a premier mail‑order cheese company to include a diverse portfolio of affiliates, brands and products ranging from apparel and food to home décor and kitchen appliances, while maintaining our roots as a private, customer‑centric business based in Monroe, WI.

Do you relentlessly pursue excellence from yourself and others? If so, Colony Brands, Inc. may be the place for you to impact our business and your career! We are looking for a proven leader who delivers results and builds teams that sustain them.

This role provides broad operational ownership similar to a Plant Manager, with added scope across multiple facilities and a strong emphasis on leadership development and long‑term capability building. As the Senior Manager of Food Manufacturing, you will lead operations across our Bakery and Cheese facilities. This role is accountable for safety, quality, delivery, cost, culture, and productivity performance—while building a strong leadership team capable of delivering sustainable results.

This role is unique in that success is achieved through the development, coaching, and empowerment of others, not just individual contribution. While this role prioritizes achieving results through others, you are ultimately accountable for performance and will step in directly when needed to ensure results are achieved—using those moments to build long‑term team capability.

We’re looking for a strong operational leader with a proven ability to develop people, drive results, and lead in a fast‑paced, collaborative, manufacturing environment. Our products, workload, and days are varied requiring someone with strong planning and analytical skills who is adept at handling changes. This person must possess high level communication skills and thrive in a dynamic, collaborative team environment.

This role requires someone with operations leadership, planning, analytical, and project engineering experience in a high‑volume production environment.

• Proven experience leading large‑scale manufacturing operations (200+ employees preferred)
• Demonstrated success developing leaders and building high‑performing teams to carry out operation strategies
• Strong track record of analyzing data and driving improvements in safety, quality, cost, delivery, and culture
• Experience with budgeting, financial analysis, capital planning, project management, and cost savings projects
• Strong problem‑solving, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement capability
  
  Ability to lead effectively in a fast‑paced, complex, cross‑functional environment
• Proven ability to lead effective corrective and preventive action (CAPA) processes, ensuring root cause is identified and sustainable solutions are implemented
• Demonstrated strength in employee relations, including conflict resolution, performance management, and addressing complex people issues promptly and effectively

• Leads by example with integrity, accountability, vulnerability, professionalism, and follow‑through
• Demonstrates strong emotional intelligence, self‑awareness, and adaptability
• Works cross‑functionally to collaboratively achieve key metrics and ensure build plan is met
• Coaches and develops others through feedback and empowerment, not directive leadership
• Actively builds and reinforces a culture of trust, accountability, respect, engagement, and continuous improvement
• Holds self and leaders accountable for both results and behaviors
• Maintains a visible presence on the production floor and connects with employees at all levels