Senior Manager of Refrigeration

Reser's Fine Foods - Deer Creek Potato Plant
3728 SE 6th Ave
Topeka, KS 66607, USA

Recipe for Success

Reser’s is the leading provider of fresh refrigerated foods for the supermarket and food service industries. Family owned and operated, Reser’s has been a proud sponsor of good times at picnics, BBQs, and affordable family meals since 1950. Reser’s family of brands include Reser’s American Classics, Main Street Bistro, Don Pancho, and more. Reser’s operates facilities in the US, Mexico and actively supports the communities it serves.

Benefits and Culture

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package designed to help employees live a healthier life, build rewarding careers and save for the future. Reser’s offers choices whenever possible, because we recognize the diverse and ever-changing needs of our employees. Full-time employee benefits include medical, dental, vision, AD&D, life, 401(k) with discretionary match, wellness programs, paid time off, company paid holidays and a variety of voluntary benefit options.

We strive to be Employer of Choice. As one of our five cornerstones, this means that we go all-out to create an environment that shows we are committed to investing in employee growth and creating a culture of belonging where employees what to build a lasting career.

Visit our website to learn more about our competitive benefit programs –

Reser’s Fine Foods – Job Description

Location:

Topeka Campus Job Family:
Maintenance/Engineering

Reports to:

Director
- Maintenance Sr. Career Track/Level: M4

Job Summary:

This role provides leadership and technical oversight for industrial refrigeration systems across multiple manufacturing facilities, ensuring safe, reliable, compliant, and cost-effective operation of ammonia refrigeration systems. This role serves as a key leader in refrigeration reliability, Process Safety Management (PSM), regulatory compliance, mechanical integrity, maintenance strategy, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Working closely with plant maintenance, engineering, operations, safety, environmental, and quality teams, the Senior Manager, Refrigeration drives execution of refrigeration standards, supports capital projects, develops technical talent, and ensures alignment with corporate refrigeration and process safety objectives. The position serves as a subject matter expert in refrigeration operations while providing leadership for PSM compliance and risk-reduction efforts.

Essential Position Functions:

1. Lead the safe and reliable operation of industrial ammonia refrigeration systems across assigned facilities.

2. Support implementation of enterprise refrigeration standards, specifications, and best practices.

3. Drive refrigeration system reliability through process safety, operational excellence, accountability, continuous improvement, preventive, predictive, and condition-based maintenance programs.

4. Serve as a technical resource for complex refrigeration troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and corrective action development.

5. Support development and execution of refrigeration capital projects, equipment upgrades, and modernization initiatives.

6. Evaluate refrigeration technologies that improve safety, efficiency, sustainability, and system performance.

7. Monitor refrigeration performance metrics and identify opportunities for optimization and risk reduction.

8. Assist in the development of annual operating and capital budgets related to refrigeration assets.

9. Oversee contractor performance and ensure adherence to company safety and operational requirements.

10. Support emergency response readiness and provide technical leadership during refrigeration-related incidents or investigations.

11. Lead facility refrigeration audits, assessments,…