Plant Manager

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.; Burlington (WI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Echo Lake Foods, a leading producer of ready-to-eat egg products and breakfast items, seeks a Plant Manager to oversee all operations with full P&L accountability. You will drive safety, quality, and performance while guiding a diverse team across multiple departments.

The role emphasizes lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and strict adherence to GMP, FDA, USDA, and HACCP standards to ensure efficient production and cost control in a fast-paced facility.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.
• Position experience may be substituted to meet the educational requirements using a 2:1 ratio where 2 years’ experience equals 1-year education.

Responsibilities

• Full accountability for the facility’s financial performance, including cost control, budgeting, and forecasting.
• Develop and implement strategies to optimize profitability, reduce waste, and improve operational efficiency.
• Management of multiple departments (production leads, safety, receiving, dispatch, maintenance, etc.).
• Drive lean manufacturing principles, continuous improvement initiatives, and process optimization to enhance productivity.
• Monitor KPIs such as production costs, yield, labor efficiency, and material utilization.
• Ensure compliance with FDA, USDA, and HACCP standards.
• Maintain GMP and food safety protocols.
• Ensures preventive maintenance programs are executed to minimize downtime and extend equipment life.

Skills

Problem Solving

Budget and Cost Control

Collaborative Leadership

Communication Proficiency

Managing for Results

Lean Manufacturing

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

Echo Lake Foods is a leading manufacturer of ready-to-eat egg products and breakfast foods, including waffles, pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, omelets, and egg patties, serving major retail, foodservice, and national restaurant customers across the United States. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Burlington, Wisconsin, the company operates multiple production facilities throughout the Midwest and has built a strong reputation for quality, innovation, and customer partnerships.

In 2025, Echo Lake Foods was acquired by Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the United States, marking an exciting new chapter of growth. This partnership strengthens our resources, expands our capabilities, and supports continued investment in our people, facilities, and products. Creating new opportunities for employees to grow their careers within a stable and expanding organization.

Summary

The Plant Manager is responsible for overseeing all operations of a food manufacturing facility, with full Profit & Loss (P&L) accountability. This role ensures the safe, efficient, and high-quality production of food products while meeting financial, operational, and regulatory objectives. The Plant Manager will lead a diverse team, driving continuous improvement, and maintain compliance with food safety standards, fostering a culture of operational excellence and employee engagement.

Essential Functions

• Full accountability for the facility’s financial performance, including cost control, budgeting, and forecasting.
• Develop and implement strategies to optimize profitability, reduce waste, and improve operational efficiency.
• Management of multiple departments (direct reports include Production Leads, Safety, Receiving, Dispatch, Maintenance, etc.).
• Drive lean manufacturing principles, continuous improvement initiatives, and process optimization to enhance productivity.
• Promotes cross-functional goal alignment and common vision across functions.
• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as production costs, yield, labor efficiency, and material utilization.
• Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations, including FDA, USDA, and HACCP standards.
• Maintain rigorous adherence to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and food safety protocols.
• Ensures machines are maintained as required to deliver and optimum utilization and operational performance.
• Develops or revises standard operational and working practices and observes workers to ensure compliance with standards.
• Meets and exceeds qualitative and quantitative performance standards as established by management.
• Ability to function under highly stressful conditions and interact cordially with co-workers to accomplish common tasks.
• Foster a culture of safety, accountability, and collaboration while promoting employee engagement and retention.
• Implement training programs to enhance skills and ensure compliance with safety and operational standards.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of supervisors, production staff, and support personnel.
• Ensure preventive maintenance programs are executed to minimize downtime and extend equipment life

Core Competencies

• Problem Solving
• Customer Focus
• Budget and Cost Control
• Collaborative Leadership
• Communication Proficiency
• Managing for Results

Supervisory Responsibility

This position is responsible for the direction, coordination, and evaluation of the facility while on shift. This position carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described herein are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to work independently as well as with and around others. There is frequent verbal andface-to-face contact. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Sensory and Physical Demands

The sensory and physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to engage their sensory functions. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Although this job is primarily sedentary and requires the ability to sit for extended periods of time, employees may be regularly required to stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms. Occasionally employees may be required to bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, lift, carry, pull, push and/or move objects weighing up to 20 pounds.

Intellectual Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to read, write, and interpret a variety of instructions furnished in but limited to written, oral, visual, diagram, or schedule form. Employees will work under significant time constraints, apply memorization, analysis, apply perception/comprehension skills, spontaneous thought, judgment, and manage time in completing assignments. The employee isrequired to use decision-making skills, practically solve problems and to deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists, communicate effectively, articulate ideas, respond to inquiries, handle conflict situations, perform mathematical calculations reasonably necessary to satisfactorily perform job duties, and to make decisions based on department and organizational goals.

Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are dependent on operational needs and may vary, Monday through Sunday. The employee is required to be available as scheduled and may be required to be available for extended hours. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required as job dutiesdemand. No travel is expected for this position.

Required Education and Experience

A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. Position experience may be substituted to meet the educational requirements using a 2:1 ratio where 2 years’ experience equals 1-year education.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, military service, protected veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.