Production Lead - Food Manufacturing (3am-3pm Shift)

Dessert Holdings Inc.; Aurora, Northern (CO, KY); Hybrid; USD 60,174,000 - 73,354,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical plans

Dental and vision insurance

Paid vacation and holidays

Retirement contribution

Job summary

Dessert Holdings Inc. in Aurora, CO is seeking a Production Lead for the first shift (3:00 AM–3:00 PM) to oversee safe, quality dessert production and to guide a team of 10–40 employees. The role requires adherence to SQF, HACCP, and GMP standards, plus strong communication in English/Spanish.

Hourly pay ranges from $20.60 to $25.60 with opportunities for growth. You will drive line performance, safety, and quality while maintaining real-time production records and supporting continuous

Qualifications

• Experience in a manufacturing environment and/or leadership role.
• Ability to read, write, and complete production documentation in English or Spanish.
• Basic math skills and proficiency with batch sheets, formulas, and specifications.

Responsibilities

• Enforce safety rules including PPE, machine guarding, and LOTO; perform start-of-shift and in-process safety checks.
• Stop production and escalate immediately for any safety hazard; notify supervision of abnormalities or unsafe conditions.
• Report incidents, near-misses, and hazards; create and track maintenance work requests in Maintenance until resolution.
• Coach, train, and hold employees accountable for safe work practices; ensure required safety training is completed and documented.
• Ensure continuous compliance with SQF, HACCP, GMP, allergen, sanitation, and hygiene standards.
• Conduct, document, and verify required quality checks including weights, temperatures, labels, lot codes, and visual standards.
• Verify batch sheets, formulas, build sheets, raw material usage, FIFO, and traceability at start-up and changeovers.
• Escalate, quarantine, and support investigation of product for any quality or food safety issue; ensure timely rework and corrective actions.
• Lead, coach, and organize 10–40 employees to meet hourly and daily production goals with minimal waste and downtime.
• Hold team members accountable for safety, quality, and operations on assigned line.
• Establish and maintain standard line staffing; verify coverage at start-up, breaks, and changeovers; elevate gaps as needed.
• Train, cross-train, and verify employee task qualifications and certifications.
• Set up production lines to standard configurations and ensure smooth start-ups, changeovers, and shift handoffs.
• Maintain accurate, real-time production documentation and system entries (D365, Hour-by-Hour boards, Centerlines, CID's, pre-op inspections).
• Monitor and communicate KPIs including efficiency, throughput, waste, and downtime; follow downtime escalation procedures.
• Operate equipment and perform basic troubleshooting; demonstrate working knowledge of line equipment, controls, and common failure points; request maintenance support when issues exceed scope.
• Submit and track maintenance work orders in eMaintenance for equipment, safety, or operational issues.
• Maintain housekeeping, sanitation, and GMP standards; support 5S, standard work, and continuous improvement activities.
• Communicate priorities, issues, and abnormalities promptly to supervision and support investigations and corrective actions.

Skills

Manufacturing leadership

Bilingual English/Spanish

Documentation literacy (English/Spain)

Job description

Dessert Holdings Inc. in Aurora, CO is seeking a Production Lead for the first shift (3:00 AM–3:00 PM) to oversee safe, quality dessert production and to guide a team of 10–40 employees. The role requires adherence to SQF, HACCP, and GMP standards, plus strong communication in English/Spanish.

Hourly pay ranges from $20.60 to $25.60 with opportunities for growth. You will drive line performance, safety, and quality while maintaining real-time production records and supporting continuous