Assistant Plant Manager

CHEP; Wilmington (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits Day 1!

Paid Time Off

401K with Company Match

Vision, Disability & Life Insurance

PPE & Safety Equipment

Tuition Reimbursement

Parental Leave

Childcare Assistance

Profit Sharing

Job summary

CHEP is seeking an Assistant Plant Manager to lead daily production performance, drive workforce engagement, and ensure safety and quality across the plant. You will act as backup to the Plant Manager and guide supervisors, team leads, and hourly staff in a fast-paced manufacturing setting.

The role requires strong leadership, operational agility, and financial awareness, with a focus on continuous improvement and adherence to CHEP's procedures and standards.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience in manufacturing or industrial environments.
• Experience leading supervisors, team leads, and hourly workers.
• Strong track record of accountability and performance in a management team.
• Experience managing production operations and workforce planning.

Responsibilities

• Oversee occupational health and safety compliance for employees, contractors, and visitors.
• Ensure environmental compliance and regulatory standards.
• Collaborate with maintenance to oversee machine operability and maintenance.
• Lead production meetings and provide direction to supervisors and hourly staff.
• Monitor performance against safety, quality, productivity, service, and cost metrics.

Skills

Leadership

Supervisors & team leads

Budget management

Safety compliance

Manufacturing operations

Communication

Problem solving

MS Office / Excel

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Job description

CHEP helps move more goods to more people, in more places than any other organization on earth via our 347 million pallets, crates and containers. We employ approximately 13,000 people and operate in 60 countries. Through our pioneering and sustainable share-and-reuse business model, the world’s biggest brands trust us to help them transport their goods more efficiently, safely and with less environmental impact.

What does that mean for you? You’ll join an international organization big enough to take you anywhere, and small enough to get you there sooner. You’ll help change how goods get to market and contribute to global sustainability. You’ll be empowered to bring your authentic self to work and be surrounded by diverse and driven professionals. And you can maximize your work-life balance and flexibility through our Hybrid Work Model.

Job Description

Your expertise can transform our plant—take charge as Assistant Plant Manager and lead the way!

Key Responsibilities May Include:

• Ensure occupational health and safety compliance for all employees, contractors, and visitors, adhering to both corporate and legislative requirements.
• Maintain environmental compliance by working within corporate and regulatory guidelines, ensuring the site meets all environmental standards.
• In collaboration with the plant maintenance team oversee day-to-day machine operability and maintenance
• Provide effective leadership and direction to frontline managers (e.g., supervisors and team leaders), identifying training needs and supporting staff development to optimize performance.
• Ensure compliance with all operational procedures and work instructions as outlined by CHEP, maintaining consistency and adherence to standards.
• Manage workforce planning to ensure the plant is adequately staffed with appropriately trained personnel to meet production demands.
• Ensure production processes run efficiently and effectively within budgetary constraints, identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Collaborate with the Plant Manager to drive continuous improvement initiatives, focusing on enhancing safety, quality, and cost performance across plant operations.

Position Summary

The Assistant Plant Manager (APM) is a key operational leader responsible for driving daily production performance, workforce engagement, safety compliance, quality standards, and operational efficiency. The APM serves as the primary floor leader for the production team, providing direction to supervisors, team leads, and hourly employees while ensuring plant objectives are achieved. This role acts as the designated backup to the Plant Manager and must demonstrate strong leadership, operational agility, and financial awareness in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Work Schedule

• This is a salaried exempt position and requires flexibility to support business needs outside of standard working hours.
• Occasional early morning, evening, weekend, or off-shift support may be required to ensure operational success, employee engagement, and customer service requirements are met.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure occupational health and safety compliance for all employees, contractors, and visitors, adhering to corporate policies and applicable legislative requirements.
• Maintain environmental compliance by working within corporate and regulatory guidelines and ensuring the facility meets all environmental standards.
• Collaborate with the maintenance team to oversee machine operability, equipment reliability, and preventative maintenance activities.
• Serve as the primary production floor leader, providing daily direction, coaching, and support to supervisors, team leaders, and hourly employees.
• Lead daily production meetings, communicate operational priorities, and ensure execution of production plans.
• Foster a culture of accountability, engagement, and continuous improvement throughout the production organization.
• Provide effective leadership and direction to frontline managers, identifying training and development opportunities to strengthen team performance.
• Ensure compliance with all operational procedures, work instructions, safety standards, and company policies.
• Manage workforce planning to ensure appropriate staffing levels and skill coverage to meet production demands.
• Partner closely with the Office Manager to ensure payroll accuracy, inventory integrity, production reporting compliance, and administrative process adherence.
• Monitor and drive performance against key operational metrics including safety, quality, productivity, service, and cost.
• Ensure production processes run efficiently and effectively within budgetary constraints while identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Collaborate with the Plant Manager to drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, productivity, and cost performance.
• Support inventory control processes and ensure operational compliance with inventory management standards.
• Act as the designated backup for the Plant Manager, assuming leadership responsibilities during absences and ensuring continuity of operations.
• Demonstrate understanding of plant financial performance, including budget management, cost controls, and P&L drivers, to support sound operational decision-making.
• Adapt quickly to changing priorities and business conditions, demonstrating strong organizational and operational agility in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Preferred Qualifications & Experience

• Proven leadership experience in a manufacturing, production, distribution, or industrial environment.
• Demonstrated success leading supervisors, team leads, and hourly workforces.
• Strong track record of driving accountability and performance within a management team.
• Experience managing production operations, workforce planning, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Working knowledge of safety, quality, environmental, and operational compliance programs.
• Understanding of budget management, cost control measures, and plant financial performance metrics.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and organizational skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and effectively adjust priorities to meet business needs.

Skills & Knowledge

• Ability to train people and motivate a team
• Have good working knowledge of all Microsoft Office products, especially Excel
• Demonstrated solid decision making
• Ability to provide new ideas- think outside the box
• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as necessary

What We Offer:

• Competitive Pay & Annual Bonus Structure
• Benefits Day 1!
• Paid Time Off plus Holiday Observances
• 401K w/Company match
• FREE company-paid vision, short-term disability, and life insurance!
• FREE company-provided PPE & safety equipment
• Tuition reimbursement, parental leave, childcare assistance, profit sharing, and MORE!

Remote Type

Not Remote

Skills to succeed in the role

Adaptability, Change Management, Computer Literacy, Data Analysis, Data Literacy, Delegation, Empathy, Experimentation, Mathematic Literacy, Mentorship, Scheduling, Taking Ownership, Teamwork, Understand Customers, Written Communication

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we are committed to developing a diverse workforce in which everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has the opportunity to contribute to business success while realizing his or her potential. This means harnessing the unique skills and experience that each individual brings and we do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state, or local protected class.