Production Manager

Aspire Bakeries is a North American baking company with a leadership position in specialty frozen baked goods. Formed from leading bakery companies, its innovative food portfolio includes breads, artisan breads, buns, cookies, donuts, muffins and pastries from beloved brands like La Brea Bakery®, Otis Spunkmeyer®, and Oakrun Farm Bakery®. With 13 bakeries in North America, we are committed to driving innovation, predicting upcoming consumer trends and flavors, and exceeding our customers’ expectations. Aspire Bakeries champions the values of Integrity, Ownership, Customer Focus, Creativity and Care to help us deliver on People Safety, Food Safety, Quality and Collaboration.

Manages overall manufacturing activities and processes of the production and packing line(s) of the Plant to produce the highest quality product at the lowest possible cost. Manages production and packaging processes workflow, assembly methods, and work force utilization. Ensures that employees adhere to Plant and government regulations with emphasis on safety, sanitation and quality.

Responsibilities:

• Perform continuous improvement review.
• Collaborate with management and team to analyze production runs and recommend improvements.
• Create and maintain schedules of items for production runs; authorize schedule changes; substitute materials as needed.
• Incorporate new customer orders into production process as soon as possible.
• Reschedule missed items into production on priority basis.
• Analyze and reduce scrap levels to meet efficiency targets and utilization.
• Ensure mechanical equipment functions properly.
• Collaborate with internal resources as required (e.g. Human Resources, Quality, and Maintenance).
• Authorize/manage ad hoc staffing as needed.
• Review variance analyses, compare results with standards and budget, and evaluate variance performance with Accounting.
• Analyze cause of variances; recommend and implement procedures to improve performance.
• Ensure continuous readiness for Plant and food safety audits. 
• Perform internal readiness audits to mirror American Institute of Baking (AIB) and other auditing agency requirements.
• Foster cooperation and goal achievement among departmental staff.
• Ensure consistent interpretation and application of policies and procedures.
• Set forth standards for safety.
• Ensure accident/loss prevention and security policies are followed.
• Perform other duties as assigned or required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree, or combination of college and equivalent experience
• 5-7  years manufacturing experience including supervisory experience
• Excellent leadership, communications and team building skills
• Good presentation skills
• Computer literate with proficiency in Excel, Word and SAP inventory applications
• Manufacturing experience in baking industry preferred
• Handling dough and sheeting, plus working with freezers/freezer storage preferred
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret documents such as production schedules, safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Have the ability to write routine reports and correspondence.  Have the ability to speak effectively before groups of employees or colleagues in organization.
• To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Microsoft Word processing software, Excel spreadsheet software and Outlook email software.
• Travel as needed

Aspire Bakeries is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.