General Manager of Operations (Phillipsburg)

We grow the world’s BEST Strawberries & our Operations team is a major reason why!

We are seeking a General Manager to lead our Phillipsburg, NJ facility with full accountability for Operations, Maintenance, and Facilities within a high-tech indoor vertical farm operating 24/7/365. This leader owns the end-to-end performance of the site, including safety, food safety and quality, operational excellence, plant health, financial performance, team development, staffing, and service across farm, packaging, maintenance, and facilities. They are responsible for everything from driving continuous improvement and optimizing operations to leading through staffing challenges, emergencies, and daily execution. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who thrives on ownership, drives results, and holds themselves and their teams accountable for outcomes.

Above all, we’re looking for an authentic people leader who develops high‑performing teams and leaders at every level—from hourly operators to senior managers. The right person leads by example, earns trust through action, and creates a culture where people are engaged, accountable, and motivated to follow because of how they lead, not simply because of their title.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

• Own the overall performance of the Phillipsburg facility, with full accountability for safety, quality, production, people, cost, customer fulfillment, and operational excellence.
• Lead all site operations, including Farm, Pack, Facilities, Maintenance, Safety, and Security, with full P&L ownership and decision‑making authority across all shifts.
• Build, lead, and develop a high‑performing leadership team, including the Assistant General Manager, Facilities Manager, and Maintenance Manager, while fostering a culture of accountability, engagement, continuous learning, and alignment with Oishii’s values.
• Drive talent strategy across the site by developing leaders, improving retention, managing performance, planning succession, and ensuring teams have the training, resources, and support to succeed.
• Ensure compliance with all food safety, quality, sanitation, regulatory, and workplace safety standards while maintaining audit readiness and operational discipline.
• Establish, monitor, and continuously improve key operational metrics across safety, quality, production, cost, and service, using data to identify opportunities, solve problems, and drive measurable business results.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives that increase efficiency, productivity, automation adoption, product quality, and profitability while standardizing best practices across operations.
• Partner cross‑functionally with Supply Chain, Sales, Engineering, R&D, People, and other business leaders to align operational execution with business priorities and customer commitments.
• Provide decisive leadership during operational challenges, including equipment failures, plant health events, staffing shortages, and other business‑critical situations, while maintaining business continuity and minimizing operational risk.
• Build scalable operational processes, systems, and organizational capability that support future growth and position the facility for long‑term success.