Plant Manager – Deli Slicing Operations

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Plant Manager to lead a high-volume deli slicing and packaging manufacturing operation. This role is responsible for overseeing daily plant operations while driving safety, food quality, production efficiency, regulatory compliance, and employee development.

The ideal candidate has proven leadership experience in deli slicing, ready-to-eat (RTE) food production, value-added meat processing, or a similar high-volume food manufacturing environment. This individual should be a hands-on leader with a strong track record of improving operational performance, developing teams, and implementing continuous improvement initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

Operations Leadership

• Lead all daily plant operations for a high-volume deli slicing and packaging facility.
• Ensure production schedules are achieved while meeting quality, safety, and customer service objectives.
• Optimize labor utilization, equipment efficiency, line throughput, and production capacity.
• Monitor key operational metrics, including yields, labor efficiency, downtime, waste, giveaway, and first-pass quality.
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency, and cost performance.

Deli Slicing & Packaging

• Oversee high-speed slicing, portioning, packaging, labeling, and finished product operations.
• Ensure product specifications, slice quality, package integrity, and labeling accuracy meet customer requirements.
• Maximize slicing yields while minimizing product giveaway, waste, and loss.
• Maintain efficient product flow through slicing, packaging, and cold storage operations.

Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with USDA/FSIS regulations, HACCP, GMP, SSOP, sanitation, allergen controls, and applicable food safety requirements.
• Maintain readiness for regulatory, customer, and third-party audits and inspections.
• Partner with Quality Assurance to investigate deviations, determine root causes, and implement corrective actions.
• Ensure cold-chain integrity is maintained throughout production.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, managers, and production teams across multiple shifts.
• Establish a culture focused on safety, accountability, teamwork, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Conduct performance reviews and support employee development and succession planning.
• Promote employee engagement while maintaining strong performance standards.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead Lean Manufacturing, 5S, standard work, and waste-reduction initiatives.
• Improve OEE, labor efficiency, yields, throughput, and equipment utilization.
• Use production data and performance metrics to identify improvement opportunities.
• Implement sustainable process improvements that support long-term operational performance.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, preferably within food manufacturing.
• Experience managing deli slicing, ready-to-eat (RTE), value-added meat, packaged meat, or similar food production operations.
• Strong knowledge of USDA/FSIS regulations, HACCP, GMP, SSOP, sanitation, and food safety programs.
• Experience leading large production teams in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated success improving production efficiency, yields, labor productivity, quality, and operational performance.
• Strong leadership, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining high standards for safety, quality, and production.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Operations, Engineering, Food Science, Manufacturing, or a related field.
• Experience with ERP or MES production systems.
• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement experience.
• Experience managing multi-shift manufacturing operations.
• Experience working in a USDA-inspected food manufacturing facility.
• Strong understanding of production metrics, capacity planning, and operational cost management.