Production Manager | Linda Fruit, Crunch Pak Sister

Production Manager | Linda Fruit, a Crunch Pak Sister Company

The Production Manager is responsible for leading all day-to-day operations of a technologically advanced apple sorting and sizing facility. This position ensures the safe, efficient, and cost-effective processing of apples while maintaining the highest standards of product quality, food safety, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction.

The Production Manager provides leadership to supervisors and production teams, driving continuous improvement initiatives and leveraging cutting-edge sorting, grading, automation, data collection, and packing technologies to maximize throughput, reduce waste, and improve operational performance. The position plays a critical role in developing team capabilities through coaching, training, and performance management.

• Direct and coordinate daily production activities to achieve safety, quality, service, and cost objectives.
• Manage sorting, sizing, packing, and product flow operations to maximize throughput and efficiency.
• Ensure production schedules are executed effectively and customer requirements are met.
• Monitor labor utilization and staffing levels to align resources with production demands.
• Collaborate with Maintenance, Quality, Food Safety, and Supply Chain teams to optimize operations.
• Drive operational accountability through the use of performance metrics and production reporting.

• Develop expert-level knowledge of the facility’s automated sorting, sizing, grading, vision systems, robotics, and production technologies.
• Lead the implementation, optimization, and adoption of emerging technologies that improve operational performance.
• Utilize production data and analytics to identify trends, improve yields, and reduce inefficiencies.
• Identify opportunities to increase automation, reduce labor dependency, and improve product consistency.

• Ensure all products meet quality specifications, customer expectations, and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with Quality Assurance to maintain compliance with food safety programs, audits, certifications, and customer standards.
• Monitor pack quality, defect rates, product yields, and sorting accuracy.
• Lead corrective actions for quality issues and implement preventive measures to improve overall performance.

• Foster and maintain a safety-first culture across all departments.
• Ensure compliance with all company safety policies, OSHA regulations, and best practices.
• Drive continuous improvement in workplace safety performance.

• Manage operations to achieve departmental budgets and operating expense expectations.
• Identify and implement opportunities to reduce operating costs, increase labor productivity, and improve equipment utilization.
• Monitor key performance indicators including:
  • Throughput
  • Labor efficiency
  • Yield recovery
  • Downtime
  • Product quality metrics
  • Cost per packed unit
• Lead continuous improvement efforts focused on waste reduction and process optimization.

• Lead, coach, develop, and motivate leads and production personnel.
• Establish clear performance expectations and provide ongoing feedback.
• Ensure consistent communication across shifts and departments.
• Ensure team members are properly trained in safety, quality standards, food safety protocols, equipment operation, and production processes.
• Create cross-training opportunities to improve workforce flexibility and capability.
• Assess training effectiveness and implement improvements as needed.

• Bachelor’s degree in Operations Management, Engineering, Science, Business or related field preferred.
• Equivalent combination of education and industry experience may be considered.

• 5+ years of progressive manufacturing, food processing, produce packing, or agricultural operations leadership experience.
• 3+ years of leadership experience managing supervisors and production teams.
• Experience in automated production environments strongly preferred.
• Experience with fresh produce, food manufacturing, packing facilities, or agricultural…