Plant Manager - Main Plant

Position:
Plant Manager — Main Plant

Reports to:

Chief Operating Officer

Location:

Sandusky, Ohio (on-site)

Direct reports:
Production supervisors (1 per 2–3 lines), with line leads, materials handling and assigned QA and maintenance resources supporting the plant

Plant operating pattern:
Two production shifts; third shift sanitation; seasonal peak with weekend production as required

Environment:
Unionized food manufacturing; branded, private label and contract manufacturing in the same building

Travel:
Minimal

Compensation:
Competitive base plus performance bonus; range confirmed with the final candidate

We are looking for a hands‑on plant manager to run our main manufacturing plant in Sandusky — a high‑mix, high‑changeover food plant producing frostings, icings, gels and related sweet goods for national retail customers under our own brands, private label and contract manufacturing agreements.

This is a turnaround seat, not a caretaker seat. The plant has good equipment, capable people and more demand than it is currently converting. Attainment and yield are below where they need to be, changeovers and start‑ups are eating capacity, and the operating discipline that holds a plant to its plan has to be rebuilt. We want a leader who has done this before with Lean and TPM — someone who works from a loss tree, coaches supervisors on standard work, and is on the floor at shift start rather than reading about it the next morning.

The role owns safety, food safety and quality execution, production attainment, yield, cost and people development for the main plant. It is one of two plant leadership roles; the sister role leads the 2200 dry mix and tub plant. Both report to the Chief Operating Officer and share site services — engineering, planning, warehouse, and quality and sanitation.

It is the main plant runs filling and packaging lines across several technologies, plus the batching and processing equipment that feeds them. Final line assignment is confirmed at hire.

• Effytec pouch lines
• Spouted cookie‑icing pouches with snap‑cap fitment; the highest‑volume and highest‑opportunity assets in the plant
• Hassia
• Thermoform pouch and sachet formats
• Norden tube lines
• Decorating gels and icing tubes with tip and cap, including the gel room
• Icing bottle line
• Squeeze bottle filling, capping and labeling
• Candy card line
• Assembly and pack‑out of candy card product
• Processing equipment
• Batching, cooking, mixing and color/flavor addition feeding the packaging lines
• Support
• Line changeover and sanitation interface, materials staging, maintenance and line‑side quality

• Own safety performance for the plant. Lead entanglement, guarding, LOTO and pedestrian/PIT risk reviews line by line, and close findings on a dated plan.
• Treat every near miss as if it were an injury: investigate, root cause, correct, and share the learning across both plants.
• Maintain OSHA recordkeeping, contractor safety rules, powered industrial truck licensing, and the plant garment and PPE policy.
• Make safety the first item in every shift meeting and the first question in every incident review.

• Deliver product that meets specification the first time — GMPs, HACCP/preventive controls, SQF readiness, sanitation verification, and allergen control on every changeover.
• Respect release authority:
  Food Safety & Quality releases product and releases equipment after cleaning. Production does not release itself.
• Drive holds to disposition on a clock — no aged holds accumulating on the floor — and own corrective action for the losses that created them.
• Own weight control, fill accuracy and label/lot accuracy to spec, with verification recorded at the line.
• Own allergen and…