Plant Manager

Kelly Services; Burlington (NJ); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Paid time off

Job summary

Kelly Services is seeking a Plant Manager for a Burlington, NJ food and ingredient manufacturing facility. You will oversee safe, reliable operations, drive equipment uptime, and lead maintenance and capital projects. Onsite, full-time, direct hire.

The ideal candidate has a technical engineering degree and 7+ years in process manufacturing, plus strong CMMS and GMP knowledge. You will coordinate with production, quality, and leadership to optimize costs and compliance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in food/process manufacturing preferred.
• Strong maintenance, reliability, and troubleshooting experience.

Responsibilities

• Support daily plant operations to meet production schedules.
• Develop and manage preventive maintenance programs.
• Lead root cause analysis of downtime and failures.
• Drive plant improvement and capital equipment projects.

Skills

Mechanical Engineering

Maintenance experience

Root cause analysis

Troubleshooting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Equivalent education/experience

Tools

GMP systems

Job description

Plant Manager

Location: Burlington, NJ

Employment Type: Direct Hire

Schedule: Full-Time, Onsite

Salary: $120,000–$160,000 annually, depending on experience

Work Authorization: Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Plant manager to support the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of a food and ingredient manufacturing facility in Burlington, NJ.

This position will play a key role in plant operations, equipment reliability, preventive maintenance, capital improvements, and continuous improvement initiatives. The ideal candidate will have experience in food, or a similar process-manufacturing environment.

The Plant manager will work closely with production, maintenance, quality, food safety, and plant leadership to maximize equipment uptime, improve plant performance, control costs, and maintain compliance with applicable safety and food manufacturing standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Support day-to-day plant operations to ensure production schedules, customer specifications, and delivery requirements are achieved.
• Develop, manage, and improve preventive and predictive maintenance programs to maximize equipment reliability and asset life.
• Identify root causes of equipment downtime, recurring failures, production interruptions, and maintenance-related performance issues.
• Lead troubleshooting and corrective action efforts involving mechanical, electrical, process, and facility equipment.
• Support , processing, blending, conveying, packaging, utility, and material-handling equipment.
• Partner with production and maintenance teams to improve equipment utilization, throughput, reliability, and overall operational efficiency.
• Develop and execute plant improvement and capital equipment projects from initial scope through installation and startup.
• Assist with equipment specifications, vendor selection, installation, commissioning, and validation.
• Monitor maintenance costs, utilities, consumables, and other operating expenses and identify opportunities for cost reduction.
• Support production scheduling and equipment availability to minimize downtime, changeovers, and production delays.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives involving yield, changeover time, energy consumption, labor efficiency, equipment reliability, and process performance.
• Maintain compliance with GMP, HACCP, SQF/GFSI, OSHA, food safety, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Support internal, customer, and regulatory audits as needed.
• Partner with Quality and Food Safety personnel to maintain proper sanitation, food safety, documentation, and manufacturing practices.
• Ensure proper handling, storage, and movement of raw materials and finished products throughout the facility.
• Support plant safety programs, incident investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective action implementation.
• Develop and maintain equipment documentation, maintenance records, procedures, work instructions, and engineering documentation.
• Provide technical guidance and support to maintenance technicians, supervisors, production personnel, and other plant team members.
• Respond to urgent equipment or facility issues outside normal business hours when required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical discipline preferred.
• Equivalent combination of education and relevant plant engineering or maintenance experience may be considered.
• 7+ years of experience within food, or process manufacturing environments preferred.
• Strong plant maintenance, equipment reliability, and troubleshooting experience.
• Experience with blending, processing, or similar process equipment strongly preferred.
• Experience developing and managing preventive maintenance programs.
• Knowledge of mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and industrial processing systems.
• Experience supporting capital projects, equipment installation, commissioning, and process improvement.
• Working knowledge of GMP, HACCP, SQF, GFSI, OSHA, or similar regulatory and quality systems.
• Strong root cause analysis and continuous improvement skills.
• Ability to work effectively with production, maintenance, quality, engineering, and leadership teams.
• Strong organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable working with maintenance systems, production reporting tools, and operational data.
• Must be available to work onsite in Burlington, NJ on a full-time basis.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future sponsorship.

Physical / Work Environment Requirements

• Ability to work in a manufacturing environment with exposure to heat, noise, dust, and moving equipment.
• Ability to walk, stand, climb stairs, and access production equipment for extended periods.
• Ability to wear required PPE and follow all plant safety, sanitation, and GMP requirements.
• Ability to respond to operational or equipment issues across multiple shifts when necessary.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $120,000–$160,000 annually, depending on experience.
• Direct-hire opportunity.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k).
• Paid time off.
• Additional benefits may be available based on company policy.

As part of our promise to talent, Kelly supports those who work with us through a variety of benefits, perks, and work-related resources. Please note: The following benefits reflect Kelly's general offerings. Eligibility may vary by assignment, location, and job type. Kelly offers eligible employees voluntary benefit plans including medical, dental, vision, telemedicine, term life, whole life, accident insurance, critical illness, a legal plan, and short-term disability. As a Kelly employee, you will have access to a retirement savings plan, service bonus and holiday pay plans (earn up to eight paid holidays per benefit year), and a transit spending account. In addition, employees are entitled to earn paid sick leave under the applicable state or local plan.

Why Kelly® Engineering?

Your engineering skills are in demand, but how do you find the right fit? Easy. At Kelly Engineering, our team creates expert talent solutions to solve the world’s most critical challenges. We connect you with leading organizations where you can collaborate on innovative projects, work with cutting-edge technologies and accelerate your growth. Whether you prefer the variety and flexibility of short-term projects or are looking for a long-term opportunity, we’re here to guide you to the next step in your engineering career.

About Kelly

Work changes everything. And at Kelly, we’re obsessed with where it can take you. To us, it’s about more than simply accepting your next job opportunity. It’s the fuel that powers every next step of your life. It’s the ripple effect that changes and improves everything for your family, your community, and the world. Which is why, here at Kelly, we are dedicated to providing you with limitless opportunities to enrich your life—just ask the 300,000 people we employ each year.

Kelly is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants regardless of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and we take affirmative action to recruit, employ, and advance qualified individuals with disabilities and protected veterans in the workforce. Requests for accommodation related to our application process can be directed to the Kelly Human Resource Knowledge Center. Kelly complies with the requirements of California’s state and local Fair Chance laws. A conviction does not automatically bar individuals from employment. Kelly participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

Kelly may use AI-powered tools during the recruitment and hiring process. For full details, including how Kelly uses AI, your rights, and how to request a reasonable accommodation, visit the Recruitment Artificial Intelligence Notice.

Kelly Services is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We welcome, value, and embrace diversity at all levels and are committed to building a team that is inclusive of a variety of backgrounds, communities, perspectives, and abilities. At Kelly, we believe that the more inclusive we are, the better services we can provide. Requests for accommodation related to our application process can be directed to Kelly’s Human Resource Knowledge Center. Kelly complies with the requirements of California’s state and local Fair Chance laws. A conviction does not automatically bar individuals from employment.