Director of Plant Operations - Lancaster - TalentGate, a Hunt Group, Inc. company

Description

Our client is a high-growth (>20% CAGR over the past five years), better-for-you branded food company operating at the intersection of consumer demand, omnichannel expansion, and manufacturing complexity. With a strong digital presence, expanding retail distribution, and a brand new greenfield company owned manufacturing facility supported by a growing co-manufacturing network, the company has built a compelling platform for scale.

The next phase of growth, however, requires a step-change in plant-level leadership — from startup-oriented execution to disciplined, systems-driven operational excellence.

The Plant Operations Director will serve as the company's senior on-site manufacturing leader and a critical operating partner to the COO and VP, Network Manufacturing. This leader will personally own plant execution, systems, and results, ensuring the facility becomes a stable, scalable, and cost-effective asset that supports long-term enterprise value creation.

The company is at a critical inflection point:

• Rapid growth has materially increased manufacturing complexity and operational risk.
• The Lancaster facility has exited its most volatile startup phase but has not yet fully stabilized.
• Yield variability, conversion costs, and asset utilization must materially improve.
• NetSuite must become a trusted system of record for production, inventory, and costing.
• A clear, multi-year facility roadmap is required to support continued volume growth, SKU expansion, and innovation.

The Plant Operations Director will be instrumental in stabilizing operations, building disciplined systems, and enabling the leadership team to operate with confidence as the business continues to scale. This is a hands-on, high-impact role for a plant leader who values ownership, rigor, and results — and who is energized by building what does not yet fully exist.

The Work to Be Done

1. Own Plant Stability, Reliability, and Day-to-Day Execution — Completely

• Assume full on-site leadership of production, maintenance, sanitation, warehousing, and logistics.
• Establish disciplined daily management routines, clear KPI ownership, and consistent operating cadence.
• Eliminate startup-driven volatility across yield, downtime, labor efficiency, and schedule attainment.

2. Own Food Safety, Quality, and Regulatory Execution

• Maintain uncompromising execution of SQF, HACCP, FDA, and USDA requirements.
• Lead audit readiness, inspections, and corrective actions.
• Partner closely with Quality to ensure effective sanitation, allergen control, microbial management, and traceability.

3. Build Yield, Cost, and Technical Performance That Drives Results

• Lead resolution of yield loss, process variability, and technical performance gaps inherent in liquid food manufacturing.
• Stabilize and ramp complex processing and packaging equipment, including retort and Tetra Pak.
• Drive measurable improvements in conversion cost, throughput, and asset utilization.

4. Own NetSuite ERP, Capital Execution, and the Facility Roadmap

• Serve as the plant-level business owner for NetSuite across production reporting, inventory accuracy, maintenance execution, and costing.
• Ensure BOMs, routings, labor standards, yields, and inventory movements reflect physical reality.
• Develop and execute a rolling three- to five-year facility roadmap aligned to growth and innovation.
• Lead capital projects end-to-end, from business case through commissioning and ROI realization.

5. Position the Plant as a Strategic Manufacturing and Network Asset

• Operate the facility as a core node within a broader manufacturing and fulfillment network.
• Support finished goods production, East Coast fulfillment, and selective innovation.
• Enable negotiating leverage and optionality across the co-manufacturing network while improving internal cost competitiveness.

What Success Looks Like

The plant consistently delivers at least 98 percent quarterly production uptime with improving OEE and throughput. Material yield and conversion cost improvements are achieved. Food safety audits are completed with zero major findings and continuous audit readiness is maintained. NetSuite operates as a trusted system of record with inventory accuracy at or above 99 percent. Capital projects are delivered on time, on budget, and with validated ROI. The facility functions as a stable, scalable asset supporting the company's next phase of growth.

Who Thrives in This Role

This role is ideal for a Plant Operations Director who:

• This role is ideal for a Plant Operations Director who has led a manufacturing site through startup recovery or rapid scale, enjoys getting into the details personally, and values ownership over delegation.
• The successful candidate is comfortable operating in ambiguity, building systems from incomplete foundations, and holding themselves and others accountable for results.

This role is not ideal for:

• This role is not ideal for leaders who only oversee mature, low-variability operations or who avoid direct responsibility for systems, data, and outcomes.

Ideal Experience

• Senior plant or operations leadership experience within food, beverage, CPG, or regulated manufacturing environments. (Aseptic experience is a plus but not required)

• Proven track record leading a manufacturing site through startup, turnaround, stabilization, or rapid scale.

• Deep hands-on experience with yield improvement, process optimization, and cost reduction in complex manufacturing operations.

• Direct ownership of food safety and regulatory compliance, including SQF, HACCP, FDA, and USDA audits.

• Experience owning ERP execution at the plant level (NetSuite strongly preferred), including inventory accuracy, BOMs, routings, labor standards, and costing.

• Demonstrated success leading capital projects, equipment installations, and facility expansions from planning through commissioning.