Digital Manufacturing Lead

Marzetti Company; Columbus, Northern (OH, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Marzetti Company in Columbus, OH is seeking a Digital Manufacturing Lead – Poka Enablement to advance connected worker initiatives and operations transformation across its manufacturing network. You will translate the Poka platform into daily plant routines, standard work, frontline training, problem solving, quality execution, and continuous improvement.

The role partners with Operations, IT, Quality, CI and site leadership to drive adoption, governance, and measurable value from Poka across

Qualifications

• 5+ years in manufacturing operations or plant leadership.
• Hands-on experience deploying digital manufacturing tools (Poka, MES, CMMS).
• Strong GMP and food safety knowledge.
• Experience training frontline staff and managing SOPs.
• Proven change management experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end deployment of Poka across 14 facilities.
• Develop training materials and train-the-trainer programs.
• Establish adoption KPIs and drive digital-first culture.
• Partner with CI/Lean and governance teams to embed Poka in daily systems.

Skills

Operations management

Digital transformation

Change management

GMP compliance

ERP familiarity

Tools

Poka platform

MS Office

Job description

Overview

The Digital Manufacturing Lead – Poka Enablement will play a critical role in advancing Marzetti’s connected worker and operational transformation journey. As the organization expands its use of Poka across manufacturing plants, this role will help translate the platform from a digital tool into an embedded part of daily plant operations, standard work, frontline training, problem solving, quality execution, and continuous improvement. The role will partner closely with Operations, IT, Quality, Continuous Improvement, and site leadership to drive adoption, governance, sustainment, standardization, and measurable business value from Poka across sites. The ideal candidate has strong manufacturing operations experience, hands-on digital transformation exposure, and the ability to drive change on the plant floor.

Responsibilities What You'll Do

Essential Functions/Primary Responsibilities:

• Platform Deployment and Implementation – Lead end-to-end deployment of POKA across 14 manufacturing facilities in The Enterprise. Partner with site leadership to define use cases (training, troubleshooting, autonomous maintenance, quality checks, knowledge capture). Configure workflows, forms, checklists, and digital content within POKA. Partner with IT to develop integration use cases and define business requirements where connectivity with enterprise applications such as SAP or manufacturing systems is needed. Develop rollout timelines and deployment playbooks.
• Change Management and Adoption – Drive Operator and front-line leader engagement. Develop training materials and conduct train-the-trainer sessions. Establish KPI’s for adoption (active users, content usage, issue resolution time). Identify and remove barriers to adoption. Support cultural shift toward digital-first frontline execution.
• Continuous Improvement and Optimization – Analyze usage data to identify improvement opportunities. Standardize best practices across sites. Partner with CI/Lean teams to embed Poka into daily management systems. Support Kaizen events by leveraging digital workflows. Drive measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, and cost.
• Governance and Sustainability – Establish content governance standards. Define ownership model at site level (champions, super users). Maintain documentation standards, ownership of content standards, audit readiness, and ensure alignment with corporate digital strategy. Steering committee participation required. Create multi-site rollout strategy. Alignment with corporate Operational Excellence initiatives. Consideration and alignment of Global standards vs. site flexibility governance.

Qualifications What You'll Bring

Qualification Requirements:

• 5+ years in manufacturing operations, engineering, CI or plant leadership.
• Hands-on experience deploying digital manufacturing tools (connected worker, MES, CMMS, etc.)
• Strong understanding of GMP, food safety, and regulated manufacturing.
• Experience with frontline training and SOP management.
• Proven change management experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct experience implementing connected worker platforms, or similar frontline digital tools.
• Lean/Six Sigma certification.
• Experience in food and beverage or CPG manufacturing.
• Familiarity with SAP, Oracle, or other ERP systems.

Working Conditions/Environment

Works in a normal office environment and manufacturing plant working environments. Travel 25%-50% to plants or meetings as required.