Plant Manager

Socket.dev; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Lazarus Naturals, a vertically integrated hemp/CBD producer, seeks an accomplished Operations leader in Portland to drive production, warehousing, and continuous improvement. You will own planning, staffing, budgeting, and performance reporting, partnering with finance and quality teams to optimize cost, quality, and throughput.

Join a fast-growing business expanding farming, extraction, packaging, and distribution with a focus on lean practices, safety, and compliance within regulated

Qualifications

• 15+ years in food and/or beverage production, at multiple sizes and maturities.
• Senior level experience in production/packaging leadership with proven results.
• Experience in METRC regulated cannabis operations is preferred.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with data-driven decision making.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration abilities.
• Detail-oriented with solid organizational skills.
• Experience recruiting, training, and coaching teams.

Responsibilities

• Plan and report on production and warehouse activities to support growth.
• Develop strategic operations plans with executive leadership for efficiency.
• Lead Capex and improvement projects for production and warehousing.
• Set product cost targets and drive long-term profitability.
• Collaborate with Finance & BI for real-time performance visibility.
• Implement lean principles and drive operational excellence.
• Oversee labor planning, scheduling, and budget management.
• Lead the Portland production teams and ERP system integrations.

Skills

Senior operations leadership

Production planning

Data analytics

Cross-functional leadership

ERP systems

Google Sheets/Excel

Lean manufacturing

Team development

Communication

Cost control

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

Etz Hayim owns and operates the brands Cycling Frog and Lazarus Naturals, as well as a sprawling operation that spans from farming over 300 acres of hemp, extraction, chemical processing, packaging, supply chain and warehousing to support both brands and private label customers.

Lazarus Naturals was founded in 2016 to make quality hemp-based CBD accessible to everybody. It's why we own our manufacturing process from start to finish - beginning at our hemp farms in Central Oregon to our extraction, formulation, and packaging - all to deliver safe, effective CBD at an affordable price. We provide a 60% Assistance Program to veterans, individuals with disabilities, or those experiencing income challenges, because we believe everybody should be able to experience the benefits of CBD and natural medicine regardless of their financial situation.

Cycling Frog is normalizing the consumption of casual use THC products. We are on a mission to make THC convenient, affordable, and fun by making a sessionable THC beverage the same price as a beer or soda. We want to change the way THC is consumed and viewed by our society by focusing on lower potency, ready to drink beverages that can easily fit into anyone’s lifestyle.

Job Responsibilities:

• Planning and reporting
• Partner with the rest of the Operational leadership team to develop the strategic operations plan to support the growth of the business, drive efficiency and prepare the organization for the future.
• Develop, present, and lead Capex and improvement plans for production & warehousing to support our growth strategy and forecasts. Manage the planning, ROI analysis, risk analysis and execution for production projects.
• Develop and execute upon product cost targets and long term goals to drive current and future profitability. Determine the key the cost drivers and where our business can create cost savings via operational changes and capital investment.
• Partner with the Finance & BI teams to develop better visibility and reporting for targets, goals, and KPIs allowing for floor level teams to understand their performance in real time. Educate and mentor the team to understand the importance of their goals and deliverables.
• Manage the implementation of workstation time-card tracking for employees from our payroll systems to live track actual labor costing by work order, build out automated reporting, and build out tracking to ensure employees are properly logging their hours/work time.
• Manage inventory reporting and inventory cycle count program. Plan out inventory and warehouse needs, and floor layout to accommodate storage requirements.
• Manage the annual production and staffing plan.

Operations

• Clearly define the goals and lines of responsibilities for the production & warehouse teams, and build ownership and accountability on a manager and floor level.
• Manage the production schedule and proactively mitigate inventory out of stocks. Proactively work cross functionally to alleviate any operational challenges that create out of stock risks.
• Manage the production, warehouse & formulation teams. Responsible for ensuring that all quality standards are maintained and that all other processes are adhered to on the production floor.
• Lead the production and formulation teams to work efficiently by building capability and better practices from the floor. Take the time to understand how each of our production and formulation processes work and prioritize where we can make the improvements that drive product quality, out of stock risks and efficiency.
• Manage all warehouse operations, kitting, return to stock process, inventory, and site cleanliness. Responsible for ensuring all inventory and materials are properly stored and our inventory systems are accurate.
• Lead the implementation of lean principles across all operations. Lead the teams to determine root causes and create lasting solutions to ongoing issues.
• Drive operational excellence and efficiency. Develop plans and create Executive and floor level buy in for personnel, facility and Capex changes to improve our operations.
• Lead the determination, implementation and onboarding the proper systems for the Portland production teams. Lead the implementation of operations modules for our ERP system and how to build out the proper ecosystem of tools, training, third-party systems and reporting to support it.
• Develop and implement proactive measures in partnership with the Quality & Sanitation team to better manage product quality and hold the production team accountable to organoleptic and customer facing standards.
• Build Capacity Planning tools that integrate into our forecast and demand planning to review our equipment and personnel capacity to determine if we are over or understaffed.

Leadership

• Manage, train, and inspire your team. Develop an environment that promotes and rewards initiative, open communication, accountability and excellence. Be a hands on leader who isn't afraid to jump into the weeds to understand our systems, enjoys working on the production floor, and is able to prioritize strategic leadership.
• Wade neck deep into the operational practices, processes, systems and on-the-floor operation to understand how the organization works.
• Provide coaching and development of staff to create clear career pathing across the operations teams, and provide training to support staff members in being successful at their jobs and support their career paths.
• Responsible for building and managing the labor and departmental budgets. Build and proactively manage against demand and labor capacity planning tools.
• Take a long term view of the organization. Focus on building a company that services our customers into the future and provides concrete value and solutions.

Requirements and Skills:

• 5+ years of senior level role managing a production/packaging team.
• 15+ years of experience in food and/or beverage production.
• Experience at multiple sizes and maturities of companies, specifically at start ups and mid-stage companies.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to analyze data and make informed decisions.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills.
• Experience working in METRC regulated cannabis operations is preferred.
• Passionate and skilled at recruiting, training, and coaching team members.
• Selfstarter with excellent prioritization skills and the ability to work in a fast-paced, results focused environment.
• Software experience: experienced at Google Sheets/Excel, ERP experience, and the ability and interest to learn new software