Senior Cocoa Roasting Operations Lead

Mars Incorporated in; Elizabethtown (Lancaster County); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Mars Incorporated in Elizabethtown seeks a Senior Production Manager – Cocoa Roasting to lead a 24/7 roasting operation. You will manage shift-based leaders, drive safety, quality, and continuous improvement, and partner with Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, and CI teams to stabilize new capacity expansions.

The role requires strong technical acumen in processes, equipment, and controls, plus experience with Lean, Six Sigma, and training strategy deployment to develop frontline leaders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in a related field.
• 3+ years of direct people leadership experience.
• 5+ years in manufacturing/operations/continuous improvement.
• Experience in 24/7/shifts production environments.
• Knowledge of GMP and HACCP concepts.
• Experience with plant sanitation practices.
• Strong technical understanding of processes, equipment, and controls.
• Ability to deploy training strategies and develop others.

Responsibilities

• Lead Roasting area safety, quality, delivery, and cost targets.
• Develop and manage a team of shift-based leaders across all shifts.
• Provide leadership for 24/7 operations with clear expectations and standards.
• Support expansion, commissioning, startup, and stabilization of additional cocoa roasting capacity.
• Execute elements of the 90-day plan to address losses and capability gaps.
• Partner with Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Scheduling, and CI to improve safety and reliability.
• Coach leaders and teams to strengthen accountability in safety and product quality.
• Use data and root-cause analysis to drive sustainable improvements.
• Ensure GMP, HACCP, sanitation, and food-safety standards are followed.
• Foster associate engagement through coaching and accountability.

Skills

People leadership

Manufacturing operations

Shift-based production

GMP & HACCP

Lean, Six Sigma

MSE/TPM

Autonomous maintenance

Process controls

Training & development

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Science/Operations/Business

Job description

Mars Incorporated in Elizabethtown seeks a Senior Production Manager – Cocoa Roasting to lead a 24/7 roasting operation. You will manage shift-based leaders, drive safety, quality, and continuous improvement, and partner with Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, and CI teams to stabilize new capacity expansions.

The role requires strong technical acumen in processes, equipment, and controls, plus experience with Lean, Six Sigma, and training strategy deployment to develop frontline leaders.