Packaging Department Manager

Redpath Sugar Ltd. is located on Toronto’s historic downtown waterfront and has been part of Canada’s heritage for over 160 years. Redpath Sugar Ltd. is part of ASR Group which is the world’s largest refiner and marketer of cane sugar, with an annual production capacity of more than 6 million tons of sugar. The company produces a full line of grocery, industrial, food service and specialty sweetener products.

In addition to Redpath Sugar Ltd. and across North America, ASR Group owns and operates sugar refineries, located in Louisiana, New York, California, Maryland, and Mexico. In the European Union, the company owns and operates sugar refineries in England, Portugal and Italy. ASR Group also owns and operates mills in Mexico and Belize. The company’s brand portfolio includes the leading brands Domino®, C&H®, Redpath®, Tate & Lyle®, Lyle’s® and Sidul®.

The primary responsibility of the Packaging Manager is to effectively plan, coordinate, and manage all of the packaging and bulk operations in a safe, environmentally responsible, quality-focused and financially responsible manner. The Packaging Manager directly supervises the packaging superintendents and packaging supervisors and indirectly supervises the hourly packaging employees.

• Manages and leads a team of supervisors to deliver quality and quantity of production to meet demand.
• Analyze production data from Redzone and PowerBI and implement strategies to improve performance
• Track and report KPIs, including OEE, Waste, Labor Utilization, Downtime, and Safety metrics
• Identify opportunities for cost reduction through process optimization
• Manage departmental budgets and control COGS (Cost of Goods Sold)
• Lead, coach, and develop production supervisors and provide ongoing feedback
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement and communicate clear performance expectations
• Create and ensure Standard Work is followed to achieve production result through employee leadership in a unionized environment
• Review daily packaging operation with the packaging superintendent with respect to overall efficiency, product requirement, and production schedule. Review current inventory levels and anticipated customer demand with Logistics to assure adequate order fulfillment.
• Develop and implement plans to improve performance, drive continuous improvement, and build technical depth and leadership capability. Determine the future state of the department and develop and implement plans that drive towards the future state.
• Develop and maintain a good working climate by developing a team. Conduct performance evaluations on a timely basis and establish performance goals. Ensure that supervisors and superintendents are building teams, setting expectations and holding employees accountable.
• Manage union relationship and grievances with Human Resources.
• Ensure the development of sound predictive and preventative maintenance programs which will reduce unplanned shutdowns and continuously improve plant reliability, profitability and product quality.
• Partners with support functions (i.e. Supply Chain, Procurement, Sales, etc.) to meet production demands
• Conducts regular shift meetings regarding safety, production, quality and other important information.
• Lead continuous improvement projects focusing on OEE, throughput, and waste reduction
• Drive problem-solving methodologies, including Root Cause Analysis, 5 Whys, A3 problem solving, and Fishbone diagrams.
• Other duties as assigned.

• 6 or more years of experience leading a high-speed team in a packaging operation environment required.
• Experience working in a unionized environment preferred.
• Experience working in a CPG or Food Manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading a large work group of employees required.
• Prior continuous improvement experience required.
• Demonstrated ability to supervise, coach and train employees.
• Proficient with Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated understanding of sound HSSE practices and experience with quality systems (ISO, SQF, etc.).
• Ability to work overtime, weekends and…