Paper Mill Machine Room Lead - Safety, Performance & Growth

Smurfit-Westrock; Hodge (LA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Smurfit Westrock, a leader in sustainable packaging, seeks a Hodge Machine Room Manager to lead Paper Departments 4 and 5. You will oversee safe, reliable operation and manage both hourly and salaried staff to meet safety, quality, productivity, and cost targets.

The role requires a strong engineering or operations background, extensive manufacturing leadership experience in pulp and paper, budgeting, capital projects, outages, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Paper Science, Operations Management, Business, or related field preferred.
• Ten (10) or more years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, preferably within the pulp and paper industry.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in a paper machine or integrated mill manufacturing environment.
• Proven ability to lead teams and deliver sustainable results in safety, quality, productivity, reliability, and cost performance.

Responsibilities

• Champion a culture of safety, environmental stewardship, and compliance.
• Lead daily operations to deliver performance targets in safety, quality, productivity, reliability, and cost.
• Develop and execute operating plans, budgets, capital projects, and outage strategies.
• Build organizational capability through coaching, talent development, succession planning, and performance management.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives using data-driven decision making and root cause problem solving.
• Ensure effective communication, alignment, and execution of departmental and mill objectives.
• Collaborate with Maintenance, Technical, Environmental, Supply Chain, and other business partners to optimize mill performance.
• Support long-range business strategies that improve asset reliability, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Communication

Problem-solving

Data-driven decisions

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related

Tools

Papermaking processes

Manufacturing systems

Job description

Smurfit Westrock, a leader in sustainable packaging, seeks a Hodge Machine Room Manager to lead Paper Departments 4 and 5. You will oversee safe, reliable operation and manage both hourly and salaried staff to meet safety, quality, productivity, and cost targets.

The role requires a strong engineering or operations background, extensive manufacturing leadership experience in pulp and paper, budgeting, capital projects, outages, and continuous improvement.