Plant Manager

Hood-Container-1; Bowling Green (KY); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Annual bonus

Training & development

Employee wellbeing

Job summary

Hood Container Corporation in Bowling Green, KY, is seeking a hands-on Plant Manager to lead our corrugated packaging facility. You will own plant performance, safety, quality, and on-time delivery while building a high-performing team.

You'll drive operational excellence, develop talent, and manage capital projects to improve productivity and cost effectiveness in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience managing manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated success leading large teams in a production environment.
• Strong understanding of safety, quality, maintenance, production planning, and operational metrics.
• Proven ability to drive performance, improve processes, and develop people.
• High school diploma or GED plus relevant college coursework and/or technical training.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership for all plant operations and safety standards.
• Develop and inspire Production, Maintenance, Quality, and Warehouse teams.
• Drive continuous improvement to productivity, quality, and cost performance.
• Ensure efficient execution of production schedules meeting customer expectations.
• Coach and develop leaders; foster accountability and succession development.

Skills

Leadership experience

Manufacturing operations

Safety and quality focus

People development

Production planning

Education

High school diploma or GED with technical training

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Full-time Regular Bowling Green, KY, US

At Hood Container Corporation, we’re looking for a highly engaged and results-driven Plant Manager to lead our Bowling Green Packaging facility.

This is an opportunity to take ownership of a high-performing operation that recently invested in significant equipment upgrades, including a new corrugator and multiple converting assets. As Plant Manager, you will have the ability to shape plant culture, develop talent, drive operational excellence, and make a measurable impact on the success of our business.

If you’re a hands-on manufacturing leader who thrives on building strong teams, improving performance, and delivering exceptional results in a fast-paced corrugated environment, we’d love to hear from you.

What You’ll Do

As Plant Manager, you will provide overall leadership for all aspects of plant operations, ensuring the highest standards of safety, customer satisfaction, quality, productivity, and employee engagement.

Your key areas of impact will include:

• Creating and maintaining a world-class safety culture where every employee returns home safely each day.
• Leading, developing, and inspiring Production, Maintenance, Quality, and Warehouse teams to achieve operational excellence.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives that enhance productivity, quality, equipment reliability, and cost performance.
• Ensuring efficient execution of production schedules while meeting customer expectations and business objectives.
• Building leadership capability throughout the organization through coaching, mentoring, accountability, and succession development.
• Partnering with maintenance leadership to maximize equipment reliability and plant performance.
• Leveraging operational metrics to identify opportunities, solve problems, and improve results.
• Managing financial performance, capital investments, labor productivity, and operating expenses.
• Maintaining a strong presence on the manufacturing floor and fostering a culture of teamwork, communication, and accountability.

What Success Looks Like

The successful candidate will:

• Build strong relationships and credibility across the organization.
• Create an engaged, high-performing workforce focused on safety, quality, and customer satisfaction.
• Drive measurable improvements in productivity, efficiency, and profitability.
• Develop future leaders while strengthening organizational capability.
• Champion continuous improvement and operational excellence across the facility.

What We’re Looking For

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience managing manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated success leading large teams in a production environment.
• Strong understanding of safety, quality, maintenance, production planning, and operational metrics.
• Proven ability to drive performance, improve processes, and develop people.
• High school diploma or GED plus relevant college coursework and/or technical training.

Preferred Qualifications

• Lean Manufacturing and/or Six Sigma certification.
• OSHA certification.
• Prior experience managing a large corrugated converting facility.

Here’s why you’ll love working at Hood Container:

• Competitive pay & benefits: We offer a competitive base salary, an annual bonus program, and a comprehensive benefits package to keep you healthy and happy. Check out more detailed information on our benefits via www.hoodcontainer.com/benefits
• Continuous learning: We invest in paid training and development to help you grow your skills and advance your career.
• Caring & Empowering Company Culture: Supportive & collaborative team dedicated to seeing you unbox your potential to help make a difference & make customers happy.

Our goal is to have a diverse and representative workforce, at all job levels, of the citizens and customers we serve. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.

Hood Container Corporation is a family-owned, Mill to Market company, specializing in containerboard and kraft paper, corrugated boxes, high graphic displays, and contract packaging. Our commitment to customer happiness, employee well-being, environmental stewardship, and operational excellence drives our business. Over the last decade, Hood Container Corporation has grown to become one of the top ten Paper and Packaging Companies in the United States.

To learn more about Hood Container Corporation, visit www.hoodcontainer.com or check us out on social media!