Plant Manager

Canterbury Coffee; Richmond; On-site; CAD 130,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental benefits

4 weeks paid vacation

On-site parking

Employee pricing

Growth opportunities

Job summary

Canterbury Coffee in Richmond, BC is seeking an experienced Plant Manager to lead our roasting and manufacturing operations, driving quality, safety, and a customer‑focused culture. You will own plant performance across manufacturing, maintenance, and internal logistics, building a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and Lean execution.

We value a Bachelor’s degree, 7–10 years of progressive manufacturing experience in food/CPG, and strong knowledge of OHS, SQF/HACCP, and ERP/MRP

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related field is required.
• 7–10 years of progressive manufacturing experience with 5+ years in a supervisory role.
• Experience in food, beverage, coffee, or CPG manufacturing preferred.
• Strong knowledge of Lean, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead Safety & Food Safety Excellence: set standards for a safe, food-safe, quality-focused operation.
• Drive Operational Performance: deliver right product, quality, and timing while balancing resources and demand.
• Build a Culture of Continuous Improvement: champion Lean thinking and embed improvements.
• Develop High-Performing Teams: define expectations, coach leaders, and build capability.
• Lead Reliability & Asset Performance: improve equipment reliability and guide capital decisions.
• Partner Across the Business: collaborate with Sales, Quality, Supply Chain, and Production.

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Leadership

OHS compliance

ERP/MRP systems

Financial analysis

Problem solving

Coffee/CPG manufacturing experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, or Business

Tools

ERP/MRP systems

Automation equipment

Job description

Salary Range: $130,000.00 To $140,000.00 Annually

Build Capability, Improve Performance, Scale Success

We are looking for an experienced, people-focused Plant Manager to lead our coffee roasting and manufacturing operations in Richmond, BC, driving quality, operational excellence, and a customer-focused culture.You will own plant performance across manufacturing, maintenance, and internal logistics while building a culture of safety, accountability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

What You’ll Do

Lead Safety & Food Safety Excellence:

• Set the standards for a safe, food-safe, quality-focused operation where people, products, and customers come first.
• Build internal accountability, systems, and leadership discipline that keep the plant compliant, audit-ready, and operating to high standards.

Drive Operational Performance:

• Lead the plant to deliver the right product, quality, and timing while balancing people, capacity, cost, and customer demand.
• Translate business priorities into clear goals, performance measures, and decisions that drive results within the plant.

Build a Culture of Continuous Improvement:

• Champion Lean manufacturing thinking and challenge how work gets done to improve flow, productivity, reliability, quality, and cost.
• Turn ideas into measurable results and embed improvements into everyday operations.

Develop High-Performing Teams:

• Create clarity around expectations, accountability, and performance while giving leaders and employees the tools to succeed.
• Develop future plant leaders through coaching, capability building, and meaningful opportunities to lead.

Lead Reliability & Asset Performance:

• Strengthen the reliability and performance of equipment, systems, and infrastructure.
• Shape investment priorities in equipment, automation, technology, and capacity to support current performance and future growth.

Partner Across the Business:

• Bring an operational perspective to business decisions and collaborate across Sales, Quality, Supply Chain, Production, Maintenance, Warehousing, and other functions.
• Turn customer needs, new products, packaging opportunities, and growth plans into successful plant execution.

Scope of Leadership

Manufacturing Operations:

• Own overall plant performance across roasting, packaging, maintenance, and internal logistics.
• Set operating direction and priorities, balancing Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, People, and Environment to deliver business and customer commitments.

Safety, Food Safety & Compliance:

• Set the leadership expectations and operating discipline required for a safe, compliant, high-quality food manufacturing environment.
• Uphold plant accountability for OHS, SQF, HACCP, GMP, customer, and other applicable standards.

Operational Excellence:

• Shape the plant’s continuous improvement agenda, embedding Lean manufacturing thinking, structured problem-solving, and sustainable performance improvement.
• Influence how work is designed, measured, and improved across the operation.

Maintenance & Reliability:

• Set priorities for preventive maintenance, equipment reliability, downtime reduction, and asset performance.
• Influence capital, automation, infrastructure, and technology decisions that strengthen plant capability and future capacity.
• Lead and develop the plant leadership team, creating clarity, accountability, engagement, and a strong pipeline of future leaders.
• Shape workforce capability through staffing, development, performance, succession, and partnership with People & Culture.
• Own plant financial performance through responsible management of the operating budget and controllable manufacturing costs.
• Balance investment and cost decisions with safety, quality, reliability, customer service, and long-term business value.

Who You Are

You’re an experienced manufacturing leader who combines operational discipline with a people-first leadership approach. You know how to turn business priorities into plant performance, build capable teams, and create a culture where safety, quality, reliability, and continuous improvement are how work gets done.

You bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, Business, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 7–10 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including at least 5 years leading teams in a supervisory or management capacity, ideally in food, beverage, coffee, or CPG manufacturing.
• Demonstrated experience leading plant operations, budgets, people, performance, and continuous improvement.
• Strong understanding of food manufacturing and OHS requirements, including SQF or another GFSI-recognized program, HACCP, GMPs, sanitation, and preventive controls.
• Strong knowledge of Lean manufacturing, structured problem-solving, operational performance, and continuous improvement; Lean Six Sigma training is an advantage.
• Experience with maintenance and reliability, capital projects, automated manufacturing or packaging equipment, and ERP/MRP or manufacturing performance systems.
• Strong financial, analytical, planning, decision-making, and communication skills, with the ability to balance operational priorities and business outcomes.
• Coffee roasting, blending, and packaging experience, or an MBA/advanced business education, is an advantage.

We Offer:

• Base salary range of $130,000 - $140,000. Salary will be commensurate with experience, skills, and qualifications.
• Comprehensive health and dental benefits.
• 4 weeks of paid vacation.
• Immediate eligibility to participate in our Group Benefits Program.
• Vacation Purchase Program
• Employee pricing on our product line-up
• Free, on-site parking
• A fun and supportive environment with opportunities for learning and development.
• And…a workplace filled with the aroma of coffee….all day…every day