Manufacturing Manager

Run manufacturing for a fast-growing food co-manufacturer across two plants 15 minutes apart. You'll lead five supervisors, launch new production rooms, and build the standards that let us scale.

Karlsburger Foods is a family-owned manufacturer of soup bases, sauces, gravies, and seasonings, producing custom formulations for food companies nationwide. We're growing faster than our plan and adding capacity to match. You'll have a direct line to leadership and decisions made in days, not quarters.

You'll own manufacturing at our main plant in Monticello and our newest mixing facility in Maple Lake. You'll be accountable for safety, food safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people 'll lead five supervisors and a manufacturing team of about 60, and you'll report to the VP of Operations & Supply Chain.

• Both plants run as one operation, with one standard, one set of metrics, and one way of leading.
• Standard operating procedures, daily huddles, and structured shift reviews are how the floor actually works.
• Our newest facility reaches its standard rates, and the next production room launches on schedule.
• You've built a leadership bench ready for more scope, with leads developing toward supervision.

• Lead and develop supervisors and room leads through coaching, clear expectations, and on-the-floor presence.
• Own daily management, including huddles, KPI boards, and shift reviews from pre-op through sanitation.
• Partner with Quality on SQF/GFSI compliance, traceability, allergen control, and audit readiness.
• Partner with R&D so new products scale reliably from benchtop to production volume.
• Coordinate with Supply Chain, Warehouse, and Maintenance to protect the schedule and plan capacity for new rooms.
• Keep your team safe by building a floor culture where safe work practices are part of the standard, not an afterthought.
• Manage labor, overtime, scrap, and yield, and teach supervisors how floor decisions show up in margin.
• Lead new room startups from staffing and training through ramp to rate.

• 7+ years in food or beverage manufacturing, including 3+ years leading supervisors
• Multi-shift leadership experience
• Working knowledge of HACCP, GMPs, and SQF or BRCGS
• Real results with lean methods such as standard work, daily management, and root cause problem solving
• Comfort with labor cost, yield, scrap, and margin

Plant manager or multi-site experience, batch processing or dry blending, new line or room startups, PCQI, co-manufacturing experience, VAI S2K or similar ERP.

On-site role based in Monticello with regular time in Maple Lake. Core hours are 7:30 a.m.

-4:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, with responsibility for all manufacturing, which runs from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Within commuting distance of the northwest Twin Cities metro.

$110,000-$140,000 base salary plus annual bonus and profit share.