2nd Shift Production Supervisor – Food Manufacturing

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced 2nd Shift Production Supervisor to lead daily production operations within a high-volume food manufacturing facility. This position is responsible for supervising production employees, coordinating workflow, maintaining safety and food-quality standards, and ensuring the shift meets established production, efficiency, yield, and service goals.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on manufacturing leader who is comfortable working on the production floor, motivating employees, resolving issues in real time, and holding teams accountable for safety, quality, productivity, and performance.

Experience in meat processing or food manufacturing is strongly preferred, although candidates with strong production leadership experience in other high-volume manufacturing environments will also be considered.

Key Responsibilities

Production & Shift Leadership

• Lead and supervise 2nd shift production employees to meet daily production schedules and performance goals.
• Coordinate staffing, employee assignments, line coverage, breaks, and workflow throughout the shift.
• Monitor production rates, labor utilization, yields, downtime, rework, waste, and overall productivity.
• Ensure production lines are adequately staffed and operating efficiently.
• Conduct shift meetings to communicate production priorities, safety concerns, quality issues, and performance expectations.
• Maintain a visible presence on the production floor and provide hands-on leadership.
• Ensure effective communication and shift handoffs between production teams.

Safety & Compliance

• Promote and enforce a strong safety culture throughout the production operation.
• Ensure employees follow PPE, machine guarding, lockout/tagout, ergonomics, and other safety requirements.
• Identify and address workplace hazards.
• Participate in safety meetings, inspections, investigations, and corrective actions.
• Ensure employees follow all applicable food safety and sanitation requirements.
• Support compliance with USDA/FSIS, HACCP, GMP, SSOP, SQF, and other applicable standards.

Quality & Food Safety

• Monitor product quality throughout the production process.
• Ensure compliance with product specifications, labeling, weights, temperatures, and quality standards.
• Partner with Quality/Food Safety teams to address production deviations and quality concerns.
• Investigate quality issues and assist with root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Maintain a clean, organized, sanitary, and safe production environment.
• Support customer, regulatory, and third-party audits as needed.

Troubleshooting & Operations

• Quickly identify and resolve production issues that affect safety, quality, or output.
• Coordinate with Maintenance, Quality/Food Safety, Sanitation, Warehouse, and other departments to resolve operational problems.
• Investigate downtime, production variances, yield issues, waste, and other performance concerns.
• Identify recurring problems and recommend process improvements.
• Ensure production and inventory transactions are accurately recorded in applicable ERP/MES systems.

Team Leadership & Development

• Coach, train, and develop production employees and frontline team members.
• Set clear expectations for attendance, safety, quality, productivity, and performance.
• Hold employees accountable for meeting established standards.
• Address performance and employee relations issues in accordance with company policies.
• Recognize strong performance and help develop employees for future leadership opportunities.
• Promote teamwork, accountability, communication, and a positive working environment.
• Work effectively with employees from diverse backgrounds and varying levels of experience.

Documentation & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate production records, labor reports, downtime documentation, yield reports, and other required paperwork.
• Ensure production data is complete and accurate.
• Support Lean Manufacturing, 5S, standard work, and other continuous improvement initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve productivity, labor efficiency, quality, yield, and waste reduction.
• Provide thorough shift-to-shift communication and handoffs.
• Complete other operational duties as assigned by plant leadership.

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• 2–5+ years of production leadership or supervisory experience, preferably in food manufacturing, meat processing, or another high-volume manufacturing environment.
• Experience supervising hourly production employees in a fast-paced operation.
• Strong understanding of production processes, labor utilization, productivity, yield, quality, and downtime.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, motivate, and hold employees accountable.
• Strong communication, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, hands-on production environment.
• Ability to work 2nd shift and accommodate overtime, weekends, holidays, or schedule changes as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Operations, Business, Food Science, or a related field.
• Meat processing or food manufacturing experience.
• Experience in poultry, dairy, beverage, bakery, prepared foods, or other high-volume manufacturing.
• Working knowledge of USDA/FSIS, HACCP, GMP, SSOP, and SQF requirements.
• Experience with ERP or MES systems.
• Microsoft Office/Excel proficiency.
• Bilingual English/Spanish skills are a plus.
• Lean Manufacturing, 5S, or continuous improvement experience.

Work Environment & Physical Requirements

• Work primarily in a fast-paced food production environment.
• Exposure to raw and processed food products and potentially cold or wet production conditions.
• Production areas may be maintained at approximately 35–45°F, with occasional freezer exposure.
• Ability to stand and walk for extended periods during the shift.
• Ability to routinely lift, push, pull, or carry up to approximately 50 pounds.
• Ability to wear required PPE, including protective clothing, gloves, hearing protection, and other safety equipment.
• Ability to work overtime, weekends, holidays, or adjusted schedules based on production requirements.

Key Skills & Attributes

The successful candidate will be:

• Hands-On: Comfortable leading directly from the production floor.
• Accountable: Sets clear expectations and follows through on performance.
• Safety-Focused: Makes employee and food safety a consistent priority.
• Results-Oriented: Focused on meeting production, quality, yield, and efficiency goals.
• People-Focused: Able to motivate, coach, and develop hourly employees.
• Decisive: Comfortable making timely decisions when production issues arise.
• Collaborative: Works effectively with Maintenance, Quality, Sanitation, and other departments.
• Organized: Able to manage staffing, production priorities, documentation, and employee needs simultaneously.
• Adaptable: Comfortable working in a fast-paced, changing manufacturing environment.