Plant Manager

Ircagroup; Elk Grove Village (IL); On-site; USD 190,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

IRCA Group seeks a Food Plant Manager for the Elk Grove Village, IL facility. You will lead plant operations, drive capacity, talent planning, and ensure alignment with commercial strategy to deliver OTIF and cost targets.

You will oversee 8+ years of food manufacturing leadership, hold engineering/business/food science credentials, and champion continuous improvement, with fluency in English and ability to communicate in Spanish.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in food manufacturing and plant operations at a leadership level.
• BA/BS/MS in Engineering, Business, Food Science preferred.
• Fluent in verbal and written English; ability to verbally communicate in Spanish.
• Proven ability to drive process improvements, adhere to budgets, and maintain regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Develop plant strategy with a master schedule aligned to growth plans and manufacturing strategy.
• Lead performance management across the plant with data analysis and progress against plans.
• Coordinate with manufacturing and functional leadership to align plant priorities with commercial strategy.
• Share best practices across the plant network and participate in the Plant Leadership community.
• Drive proactive resolution with QSHE, Engineering, and Supply Chain to protect plant performance.
• Lead continuous improvement and CI initiatives across the plant, embedding a culture of efficiency.
• Lead change initiatives with automation, digital, and sustainability support.
• Contribute to NPD processes with R&D and commercial teams to clarify cost, service levels, and OTIF.

Skills

Fluent English

Leadership

Time management

Strategic thinking

Education

BA/BS/MS in Engineering, Business, or Food Science

Job description

Food Plant Manager – Elk Grove Village, IL

IRCA is a prominent international provider of semi‑finished ingredients for the bakery, pastry, and gelato markets. They cater to independent producers as well as large food manufacturers, including consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. The company's core product offerings consist of chocolate, chocolate decorations, creams, pastry mixes, gelato ingredients, and various other bakery and pastry ingredients.

Headquartered in Italy, IRCA was acquired by Advent International, a global private equity firm, in July 2022. The company has demonstrated a strong history of growth over the past decade. As part of its growth strategy, IRCA made two bolt‑on acquisitions in 2022. They acquired Cesarin, a provider of candied fruits, and Anastasi, a supplier of pistachio ingredients. These acquisitions expanded IRCA's product portfolio and market reach.

More recently, IRCA acquired the leading manufacturer of sweet and cereal products in Europe and the US. The target company focuses on high‑value specialty ingredients for the Food Manufacturers segment. Their product range includes sweet particulates, chocolate confections, baked inclusions, variegates, and fruit purées. This deal, successfully completed in March of 2023, is a transformative move for IRCA, establishing them as a global leader in the semi‑finished ingredients industry.

With this acquisition, IRCA has a combined revenue of €1 billion in 2023 and a presence in 22 manufacturing facilities across Europe, the US, and Vietnam. This expanded manufacturing footprint and diversified product portfolio positions IRCA as a key player in the market, serving a wide range of customers in the bakery, pastry, and gelato sectors, as well as food manufacturers.

The Plant Manager is accountable for leading the overall operations at our plant located in Elk Grove Village, IL. The Plant Manager will build capability throughout the plant team to ensure the sustainable performance and growth of the site through capacity, resource, and talent planning in close partnership with relevant functional leaders. The Plant Manager will ensure strong collaboration with our various leaders throughout Irca Group and our commercial colleagues to connect with our overall manufacturing planning and performance. The Plant Manager will work to ensure that our plant teams are clear on our vision and our purpose, including clearly understanding how their roles and collective plant performance help contribute to us being our customers’ most valued partner.

Responsibilities

• Development of plant strategy, underpinned by a master schedule in line with growth plans and relevant manufacturing strategy
• Lead a performance management and measurement discipline across the plant, with focused analysis of plan performance data, recognizing individual/team achievements, setting clear plans to address performance gaps, understanding trends and proactively identifying opportunities for improvement
• Working with our manufacturing and broader functional leadership to ensure a connected view of plant priorities and connectivity to our EUM/commercial strategy, in line with customer segmentation criteria – ensuring a clear representation of plant perspectives, ideas and considerations needed to inform best decision making for the company
• Work with manufacturing leadership to ensure that all plants are sharing best practice across the plant network, participating in our Plant Leadership community
• Driving proactive resolution for areas that do/could potentially impact plant performance through partnering with the relevant function in IO (QSHE, Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement)
• Leading out on improvement of plant Organizational Health targets (including active & clearly communicated engagement plans across selected areas of priority)
• Lead plant level productivity across areas of asset management, performance, and efficiencies in line with agreed business terms
• Lead and embed a CI mindset across the plant, actively seeking improvements and efficiency of operations, demonstrating an ability and team encouragement to identify and drive continuous improvement initiatives
• Lead key change initiatives across the plant (and connect to plant master schedule), with required functional support e.g., automation, digital, sustainability etc.
• Play an active part in New Product Development (NPD) processes in line with agreed ways of working, partnering with RDA and commercial as required to bring clarity to implications e.g., cost, service levels, OTIF etc.

Qualifications

• 8 + years of progressive experience in food manufacturing and plant operations at a leadership level
• BA/BS/MS in Engineering, Business, Food Science preferred
• Demonstrated success as a change agent & developing/implementing continuous improvement initiatives and accountability programs
• Strong hands‑on leader who leads by example and actively engages in day‑to‑day operational challenges.
• Demonstrated success assessing, developing, and retaining top talent
• Proven ability to drive process improvements, adhere to budgets, and maintain regulatory compliance
• Financial analysis acumen and experience maintaining budgets or capital spend
• Ability to deliver business result
• Fluent in verbal and written English required. Ability to verbally communicate in Spanish is required.
• Proven ability to lead direct and in direct reports
• Strategic Thinking, Managing Change, Critical Thinking, Continuous Cost Focus, Technical Expertise, Influence and Delivery of Sustainable Results
• Develop strong working relationships with colleagues across various departments, including financial, supply chain, sales and commercial entities, and seniority level leaders
• Strong People leadership skills
• Ability to coach and develop the work force
• Multi‑tasking, organizational and time management expertise

Why Join Us:

Irca Group offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits: Medical, Dental, & Vision, 401(k) matching, Paid Vacation, and Holidays, Employee Education Tuition Reimbursement Program.

Annual Salary Base Range of $190K-$205K for Employees Located in Illinois.

The “base salary range” provided above is a good faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position. The range provided is for Illinois employees as Irca group is required by Illinois State Law to post pay rates. Irca group reserves the right to pay outside of the given range based on a variety of factors including but not limited to candidate skills and experience, complexity of the job, budgetary factors, and location/geography. Irca group conducts regular reviews of compensation ranges and therefore reserves the right to alter this range at any given time.