Production Manager

Industry leading consumer products company in the Hazleton, PA area is seeking a Production Manager to oversee daily manufacturing operations to ensure safety, quality, continuous improvement, and output targets are met. Combining operational rigors with strong people leadership, this role drives lean manufacturing principles while supporting a resilient, engaged frontline workforce.

Core Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership & Execution: Direct daily plant operations, ensuring production schedules, throughput, and yield targets align with organizational demand.
• People Leadership & Talent Development: Mentor and lead shift supervisors, operators, and line technicians; foster an inclusive, high-performance culture built on continuous feedback and skill matrix advancement.
• Process Improvement & CI: Champion Continuous Improvement initiatives (TPM, Kaizen, 5S, Six Sigma) to eliminate waste, improve overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), and reduce downtime.
• Quality & Food/Product Safety: Ensure strict compliance with FDA/OSHA regulations, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), HACCP, and internal quality standards across all production lines.
• Safety Culture: Lead plant safety initiatives, maintain zero-incident targets, perform root-cause analysis on safety near-misses, and ensure routine safety training and audits.
• Budgetary & Metric Management: Own the operational budget, monitor unit costs, manage labor allocations, and regularly present key performance indicators (KPIs) to leadership.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Supply Chain, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, and R&D to smoothly launch New Product Introductions (NPI) and optimize resource allocation.

Key Qualifications & Requirements

• Experience: 5+ years of manufacturing leadership experience within high-speed CPG/FMCG environments (food, beverage, personal care, or household products preferred).
• Education: (preferred) Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Technical Expertise: Deep knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma (Green/Black Belt preferred), GMP, and automated high-speed packaging machinery.
• Leadership Style: Proven success managing large, diverse frontline teams with an empathetic, clear, and process-driven leadership approach.
• Data & Systems Proficiency: Hands-on experience using ERP tools (SAP, Oracle) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to track and optimize performance metrics.