Assistant Production Manager

Hostess Brands, LLC; North Carolina; On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

The J. M. Smucker Co. is hiring an Area Leader (Assistant Production Manager) for a 24/7 food manufacturing operation in Columbus, GA.

You will lead hourly technicians, team leaders, and supervisors, ensuring safety, quality, reliability, and cost targets while building team capability. This on-site role requires flexible shifts, including nights and weekends. You will participate in Daily Direction Setting, manage priorities, escalate issues, and develop staff through coaching and leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, operations, or related field (required).
• Minimum 2 years in manufacturing operations.
• Minimum 2 years of supervisory or people leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Execute daily management activities and complete Leader Standard Work.
• Provide leadership across teams and production areas to cover vacations and vacancies.
• Demonstrate flexibility across shifts, days, and hours.
• Champion the daily plan and participate in DDS meetings and handoffs.
• Be accountable for safety, quality, reliability, cost, and capability.
• Document Leader Standard Work and drive corrective actions.
• Model our Basic Beliefs and emotional intelligence.
• Partner with teams to identify and upscale OpEx capability.
• Collaborate across departments and serve as a technical resource.
• Transition to line-assigned schedule as needed.

Skills

Team leadership

Operations management

Shift flexibility

Coaching and development

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Operations/Business

Job description

Your Opportunity as an Area Leader (Assistant Production Manager)

The Area Leader provides leadership and operational support across a 24/7 food manufacturing operation, leading hourly Technicians, Team Leaders, and Supervisors as assigned. This role ensures operating continuity and execution of daily priorities while driving performance in safety, quality, reliability, cost, and organizational capability. The Area Leader also coaches and develops team members and Supervisors to strengthen capability and performance.

Location

1969 Victory Dr, Columbus, GA 31901 (Hostess Manufacturing Plant)

Work Arrangements

100% on-site. PM Shift. This role provides flexible leadership coverage across a 24/7 operation. Schedules will vary based on business needs and require flexibility across shifts, days of the week, weekends, holidays, and hours of work. The role may transition to a flow-to-the-work or line-assigned Area Leader schedule as business needs evolve.

In this Role You Will

• Execute daily management activities, complete Leader Standard Work, and follow through on operating team priorities and open actions.
• Provide leadership across operating teams and production areas as assigned, including leadership needs created by vacations, scheduled days off, vacancies, training, and other operational requirements.
• Demonstrate flexibility to work across varying shifts, days, and hours, including nights, weekends, holidays, and other off-hours, based on business needs.
• Champion the department daily plan and participate in Daily Direction Setting (DDS) meetings and shift handoffs to ensure priorities, risks, and actions are clearly communicated.
• Be accountable for daily operations and team performance in safety, quality, reliability, cost, and organizational capability while leading assigned areas.
• Execute and document Leader Standard Work, including floor presence, employee engagement, confirmation of critical standards, escalation of abnormalities, and follow-up on corrective actions.
• Role model our Basic Beliefs, Our Commitment to Each Other, and Emotional Intelligence to build resonance.
• Partner with operating teams to identify, upscale??
• Lead and support key technical and organizational projects while building OpEx capability across the organization.
• Collaborate across departments, pillars, and leadership teams and serve as a technical and operational resource for operating teams.
• Demonstrate the flexibility and capability to transition to a line-assigned or flow-to-the-work Area Leader schedule as business needs evolve.

What We are Looking For

Minimum Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree is required (preferably an Engineering, operations, business, or related field degree)
• 2 years of manufacturing operations experience
• 2 years of supervisory or people leadership experience

Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role

• 5 years’ or more years of relevant manufacturing leadership experience preferred.
• Demonstrated experience coaching, developing, and leading others.
• Experience planning and executing projects.
• Experience leading teams in a high-performance work environment.
• Experience in food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, engineering, or a related manufacturing environment.

Work Environment: This position operates in a 24/7 food manufacturing environment and requires regular presence on the production floor. The noise level in the work environment and manufacturing sites can be high.

Physical Demands: Regularly required to talk and hear. Frequently required to stand; walk; use hands and fingers to handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms. Occasionally required to sit; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. Able to lift objects up to 50 pounds frequently. May push and pull heavy objects. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

#LI-JS1 #INDSA

The Right Place for You

We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs. Stay connected with us on LinkedIn

We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, age, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status.

We’re a community of passionate, talented professionals dedicated to creating food people and pets love—while supporting the communities in which we work and live.

We value what makes each person unique, champion growth and development, and foster collaboration that fuels productivity and drives our shared success.

Learn more about our Thrive Together purpose At Smucker, we're passionate about creating a workplace where you truly belong. With a culture rooted in our Basic Beliefs and a competitive Total Rewards program, we aim to support every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.

Learn more about working at Smucker

Our culture is sustained and brought to life every day by the people of Smucker and our hiring process is designed to identify the right candidate for every position at our company.

Learn more about our hiring process

The J. M. Smucker Co. (the “Company”) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. No person will be discriminated against in hiring or in any other aspect of their employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, transgender status, marital status, familial status, disability, genetic information, protected veteran/military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law.