Department Lead - MPL

Blue Diamond Growers; Salida (CO); On-site; USD 47,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Diamond Growers is seeking a Department Lead – MPL to provide functional leadership for a team in our Salida plant. You will coordinate daily workflow, coach staff, and ensure adherence to SOPs, HACCP, GMPs, and safety practices while supporting a culture of continuous improvement.

The role emphasizes training, documentation, and maintaining clean records, with attention to meeting production goals and safety standards in a non-supervisory capacity.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required; 5 years of general manufacturing ops experience; knowledge of Blue Diamond Salida lines, SAP, HACCP, GMPs, and safety.

Responsibilities

• Provide functional leadership to peers and assign daily tasks to ensure safe, accurate, and timely work.
• Train and develop employees on duties, equipment, inventory, and area requirements.

Skills

Functional leadership

Coaching

Workflow coordination

Training & development

SOPs & documentation

HACCP & GMPs

Safety practices

Problem-solving

Equipment operation

Changeovers & downtime management

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Tools

SAP processes

Job description

Work Shift: Grave Pay Type: Hourly Hourly Rate (if applicable): $35.90 Targeted Base Salary Range (if applicable): N/A

JOB OVERVIEW:

The Department Lead – MPL, in a non-supervisory capacity, provides functional leadership to a team of assigned employees to support MPL plant operations. The role focuses on coordinating workflow, coaching, and developing team members to achieve production, quality, and safety objectives. This position ensures adherence to company policies, SOPs, HACCP, GMPs, and safety practices while supporting a culture of continuous improvement. All positions at Blue Diamond Growers operate following the same five objectives: first safety, quality, service, performance, and people.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provides functional leadership to peers within assigned areas, communicating the daily work plan, to include the assignment of individual tasks, leading the workflow, and assuring assigned work is completed in an accurate, timely, and safe manner.
• Assists with the training and development of employees to ensure they understand the duties, equipment, inventory, and requirements for the area assigned.
• Leads and coordinates the cleaning and sanitizing of production equipment, to include accurate maintenance of cleaning records of sanitation performance.
• Assists in the documentation and maintenance of work records, to track daily productivity accomplishments to ensure company goals, schedules, deadlines, and standards are met.
• Assist in writing, reviewing, and maintaining SOPs for assigned areas, ensuring team members follow standardized procedures consistently.
• Monitor individual and team performance metrics, provide feedback, and recognize contributions to drive engagement and accountability.
• Support problem-solving for operational challenges, performing basic troubleshooting, and escalating technical issues to maintenance, as necessary.
• Ensures compliance with all local, state, and federal regulatory requirements involving food and worker safety.
• Operates equipment and conducts equipment changeovers to assist or cover employees when needed.
• This job description reflects management’s assignment of essential functions; it does not prescribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.

WHAT YOU NEED

*Minimum Requirements High School Diploma or GED 5 years of general manufacturing operations experience with a minimum of 2 years of production line operation experience. Must be trained and have thorough working knowledge of Blue Diamond Salida Main Processing Line work centers, SAP processes, HACCP processes and auditing, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and safety practices. Works overtime as necessary as assigned and directed by Management. Required to do extensive planning, coordinating, and prioritizing, within the limits established by managerial direction and company policies/procedures. Must be forklift certified.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

This is a standard manufacturing environment with exposure to noise, dust, hazardous materials, and heavy machinery in varying work and weather conditions. You may be required to occasionally climb stairs and/or ladders.

WHY BLUE DIAMOND?

In addition to working at the world’s largest, state‑of‑the‑art almond manufacturer, we offer a safe and collaborative team environment, with numerous opportunities for free training and career advancement. Check out the BDG Benefits, Health & Wellness Guide HERE . Grow your career. Partner with us. We Are the Almond People!

Blue Diamond Growers (BDG) is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. BDG provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, color, age, religion, protected veteran or disability status, or genetic information. BDG also complies with all provisions of the U.S. Government's Executive Order 11246 dated September 24, 1965 and the rules, regulations and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.

ABOUT BLUE DIAMOND

In 1910 a cooperative of 230 California almond growers formed with the following core values: To build strong relationships among growers and with their customers; To communicate directly and honestly; and To work as a team to realize the best return on their investment. More than a century later, Blue Diamond Growers still adheres to these values at every level of our operation. Our employees are strongly committed to the brand and to each other - the word "family" is often used to describe our culture. Today, Blue Diamond Growers represents more than 3,000 almond growers in California - the state that provides over 80% of the world's supply. We are one of the most recognized food brands in the world, with annual sales exceeding $1billion. We believe in transparency and honest communication. Our work style is team-based, working together to innovate, process, and distribute the best almond products to the world. After more than 100 years, our core values of integrity, partnership, innovation and quality remain strong. Our commitment to excellence has driven Blue Diamond's unprecedented growth, innovation, high quality, and value. You'll find these values at work throughout our company. We strive for a diverse workforce, always aiming for greater levels of inclusion. In addition to a robust benefits package, we offer an employee wellness and fitness program, in which a majority of our workforce currently participates.