Assistant Plant Manager

Foremost Farms USA Cooperative, Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance

401(k) Match

Generous PTO

Paid Holidays

Parental Leave

HSA

FSA

Life & Disability Insurance

Daily Pay

EAP

Referral Program

Career Growth Opportunities

Job summary

Foremost Farms USA Cooperative, Inc. seeks a developmental leader to manage daily plant operations and build a safety-focused culture. The role prepares for progression to Plant Manager I/II, collaborating with HR, Finance, Quality, and CI to advance local and company initiatives.

You will develop production managers and supervisors, driving SCORE-based improvements, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards while delivering quality and efficiency.

Qualifications

• High school diploma required.
• 4 years of progressive leadership experience in a food manufacturing facility.

Responsibilities

• Manage the day-to-day manufacturing operation.
• Lead SCORE process to deliver safety, quality, service, and production goals.
• Champion safety through incident reviews and improvements.
• Develop talent to create a pipeline of future leaders.
• Identify stretch assignments to grow employees' strengths.
• Drive engagement, onboarding, training, and retention.
• Contribute to annual plant strategy and daily KPI monitoring.
• Align manufacturing with supply chain requirements.
• Ensure compliance with OHSA, FDA, USDA, EPA.

Skills

Leadership

Safety leadership

Communication

Team development

Education

High school diploma

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Position Overview

This position is developmental in nature, and over time will assume responsibility for all aspects of plant operation, providing preparation for eventual succession into a plant manager I or II role. Initial focus will be on developing/building a culture of safety. Additionally, responsibility will include day-to-day operation of manufacturing. Driving a culture of engagement, to achieve high levels of quality, customer service, and efficiency improvement will be critical to success. Role will be expected to collaborate with HR, Finance, Quality, CI, etc. to drive local and companywide initiatives.

Key Accountabilities

Manage the day-to-day manufacturing operation.

• Lead Daily Direction Setting and SCORE process including delivering employee safety, food safety and quality, customer service, production schedules, and cost efficiency.
• Champion safety by taking a leadership role on all safety incidents, root cause analysis and improvement activities.

Develop talent to prepare them for future assignments, creating a strong pipeline of future leaders.

• Responsible for development of Production Managers and Supervisors to create a stable plant management team with depth and in accordance with Foremost Farms' leadership values.
• Utilizes SCORE to develop the team and plant process to continuously improve methods, equipment performance, utilization of people, and quality of product and safety objectives.
• Delegate appropriate duties and responsibilities to plant management team to address and resolve problems and improve operations.
• Identify stretch assignments as part of the Individual Development Planning process, that build on employee's strengths and helps them break through barriers in their development.
• Actively leads the desired culture of employee engagement, building optimum employee relations, supporting onboarding, training, training programs, development, and retention of employees while obtaining employee safety goals and food safety excellence.

Assist in developing annual plant operating strategy that will ultimately set the stage and deliver the daily KPIs/SCORE program.

• Supports aligning all manufacturing-related activities appropriately to meet plant corporate supply chain requirements.
• Partner in developing gap analysis by function and for overall plant. Determining key areas for strategic and tactical improvement
• Works with corporate functions in ensuring compliance in accordance with all applicable regulatory agencies, such as OHSA, FDA, USDA, and EPA.

This role is accountable for ensuring that monitoring and/or verifying of control points occurs and that the required documentation is completed. For example, Critical Control Points(CCP), Preventive Controls(PC), Critical Quality Points(CQP), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points(HACCP), and Safe Quality Food(SQF) plans. This is not an all-inclusive list.

Other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

1. High school diploma
2. 4 years of progressive leadership experience in a food manufacturing facility

Preferred Qualifications

1. Bachelor's degree
2. Experience managing labor union
3. Prior dairy experience
4. LEAN manufacturing
5. 6+ years of leadership experience in Food Manufacturing

Key competencies

• Facilitate trusting relationships through effective communication, follow through on commitments, resolving conflicts and recognizing the good work of others.
• Regularly challenge the status quo by identifying opportunities for improvement, challenging the current state, and understanding that change and growth are ongoing.
• Demonstrate growth-oriented qualities by asking questions, being curious, open-minded, agile, learning from failures and inspiring the same in others.
• Demonstrate focused and disciplined execution by measuring performance toward goals and objectives.
• Take ownership to move self (and team, if applicable) forward with positive approach intended to exceed expectations and inspire same in others.

Physical Setting

• This position is required to be on site at the manufacturing facility. 40-60% of time will be spent on the floor of the manufacturing facility.

Benefits:

At Foremost Farms, we believe that you and your family matter most. That's why we're proud to offer one of the most comprehensive and competitive benefits packages in the area - designed to support your health, financial security, and work-life balance.

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance - Flexible coverage with options to meet the needs of you and your family
• 401(k) Retirement Plan - 100% company match on up to 8% of your contributions
• Generous Paid Time Off - Start with 200 hours of PTO (pro-rated for first year)
• 10 Paid Holidays - Enjoy time to rest and recharge
• Paid Parental Leave - 6 weeks fully paid
• Health Savings Account (HSA) - when you elect the high-deductible health plan
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) - Save for medical and dependent care expenses
• Life and Disability Insurance - Financial protection for you and your loved ones
• Daily Pay Option - Access your earnings when you need them
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - Free, confidential support for life's challenges
• Referral Program - Earn rewards for bringing great people to our team
• Career Growth Opportunities - Advance your skills and your career with us

Don't meet every single requirement?At Foremost Farms we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description