Director of Food Manufacturing POST NUMBER: 307168
Director of Food Manufacturing
Location: Van Buren, Indiana | Fully On-Site
Base Salary: $200,000-$260,000 25% Annual Bonus Opportunity
The Opportunity
A growing, established food manufacturer is seeking a Director of Manufacturing to lead a large, complex manufacturing operation in Van Buren, Indiana.
This is a highly visible leadership opportunity for someone who enjoys working both on the business and in the business. The successful leader will set operational strategy and build scalable systems while maintaining a meaningful presence on the manufacturing floor and staying connected to leaders and teams across shifts.
The organization is investing significantly in its manufacturing capabilities and continuing to grow. This leader will have an opportunity to make a measurable impact by improving operational performance, developing leaders, strengthening equipment reliability, and building a sustainable culture of continuous improvement.
What You'll Lead
As Director of Food Manufacturing, you will oversee a sizeable, multi-building manufacturing operation with approximately 320 employees and production running across multiple shifts.
The operation includes high-speed manufacturing, processing, packaging, warehouse, maintenance, engineering and supporting functions. Production operates across multiple shifts, including a four-shift, 12-hour, 2-2-3 schedule.
The environment includes both established manufacturing assets and ongoing investment in expanded production capability. The source brief confirms oversight across two Van Buren plants and multiple manufacturing processes.
This is an opportunity for a leader who sees operational complexity as an opportunity to build, improve and elevate performance.
Key Responsibilities
- Drive operational performance: Improve productivity, efficiency, cost, waste, service levels and overall plant performance.
- Lead from the floor: Maintain a strong presence throughout the operation, building relationships with leaders and employees while staying close to day-to-day execution.
- Strengthen leadership and accountability: Develop plant leadership, establish clear expectations and create consistent accountability across departments and shifts.
- Advance continuous improvement: Build and execute a practical continuous improvement roadmap that generates sustainable operating results.
- Improve equipment reliability: Partner closely with engineering and maintenance leadership to improve equipment performance, reliability and manufacturing capability.
- Champion safety and quality: Reinforce safe operations and product quality as foundational expectations throughout manufacturing.
- Build organizational capability: Develop frontline and salaried leaders while strengthening engagement and workforce stability.
- Support continued growth: Ensure manufacturing processes, people and infrastructure are prepared to scale with the organization's continued expansion.
What We're Looking For:
We are looking for an experienced manufacturing executive who has progressively taken on larger and more complex operations throughout their career.
The strongest candidates will bring:
- Significant leadership experience within food manufacturing, which is strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated success leading multi-shift manufacturing operations.
- A strong record of improving operational performance, productivity and efficiency.
- Experience leading continuous improvement and operational excellence programs.
- Working knowledge of methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen or comparable continuous improvement approaches.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving and KPI-driven management capabilities.
- Experience developing both frontline and salaried manufacturing leaders.
- A leadership style that is direct, accountable and approachable.
- The ability to move comfortably between executive-level strategy and hands-on operational problem solving.
Why Consider This Opportunity?
- Meaningful scope: Lead a large, multi-shift manufacturing organization with significant operational complexity.
- Opportunity to make an impact: There is meaningful opportunity to improve productivity, operational efficiency, leadership capability and overall plant performance.
- Continued investment: The organization is investing in its manufacturing capabilities and positioning operations to support continued growth.
- Executive visibility: The Director of Manufacturing is the senior manufacturing leader for the operation and reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer.
- Hands-on transformation: This is an opportunity to inherit an established operation and make tangible improvements rather than simply maintain the status quo.
Candidates do not need to live specifically in Van Buren, but should be comfortable with a consistent daily commute and the onsite presence required to effectively lead a manufacturing organization of this scale.
By submitting to this position, you are agreeing to be included in our talent pool for future hiring for similarly qualified positions.
EEO Notice
Vaco by Highspring is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by federal, state or local law.
Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact HR@vaco.com.
Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal.
Representation Notice
By submitting to this position, you agree that you will be giving Vaco by Highspring the exclusive right to present your as a candidate for the foregoing employment opportunity. You further agree that you have represented information about yourself accurately and have not affirmatively misrepresented your qualifications. You also agree to maintain as confidential, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any information you learn from Vaco by Highspring about the position and you will limit disclosure of information about the position only to the extent necessary to perform any obligations in furtherance of your application. In exchange, Vaco by Highspring agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to represent you through all solicitation, job screening and resume dispersal.
For residents of Ontario, Canada: Based on Highspring’s discussions with its Client, Highspring’s understanding is that this position for employment is a current vacancy (either through Highspring as a contractor or with the client directly).
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Additionally, submissions to this position are subject to the use of AI to perform preliminary candidate screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. More details about Vaco by Highspring’s use of AI can be found here (https://www.highspring.com/ai-use-notices/). Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase will be conducted by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco by Highspring does not know and cannot opine on if its client’s use of AI products in hiring.
Pay Transparency Notice
Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to:
- the individual’s skill sets, experience and training;
- licensure and certification requirements;
- office location and other geographic considerations;
- other business and organizational needs.
With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses.