Production Department Manager

Overview At Eagle Foods we are builders. We are builders of brands, categories, and people. Eagle Foods enjoys a rich heritage with brands that have proven category leadership for more than 150 years. Eagle is a diversified food company producing and marketing sweetened condensed and evaporated milk, snacks and convenient meal solutions products. As a company, Eagle Foods is passionate about fostering an entrepreneurial spirit that boldly builds better people and better brands while focusing on the positive impact our company, our products and our people have on the world. Eagle Foods has a bold family of brands that consumers have come to rely on for decades, including Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk and Evaporated Milk, Magnolia® Sweetened Condensed Milk, PET® Milk, Popcorn Indiana, Cretors Popcorn, Helper and Suddenly Salad. Eagle Foods products are marketed and distributed across all U.S. retail channels, including grocery stores, club stores and mass-merchandisers, as well as foodservice and export, U.S. military, and private label business. Responsibilities Essential Duties and Responsibilities Lead and coordinate production operations across all shifts to meet safety, quality, service, labor, and cost objectives. Support daily execution of the production schedule by aligning staffing, resources, priorities, and workflow across departments. Lead, coach, and develop Production Supervisors and Leads to improve leadership effectiveness, daily execution, employee accountability, and adherence to production standards. Ensure effective communication, alignment, and shift handoffs across all production shifts Lead through frontline leaders to drive operational consistency and execution across the department Reinforce accountability for attendance, conduct, performance, and adherence to company policies and standards. Respond to operational issues, staffing gaps, downtime events, employee concerns, and production constraints in a timely manner. Monitor and reinforce accountability to departmental performance metrics across all shifts Support fact-finding and documentation related to safety incidents, policy violations, attendance concerns, and employee relations matters in partnership with HR and site leadership. Ensure proper documentation, follow-up actions, and communication related to employee and operational matters. Promote compliance with all safety, GMP, HACCP, SQF, food safety, and regulatory requirements. Ensure production areas, employee practices, documentation, GMP compliance, and operational standards remain audit-ready during normal operating conditions. Ensure incidents, near misses, unsafe acts, and quality concerns are escalated and addressed promptly. Support onboarding, training, qualification, and cross-training of employees to ensure capability and standard work compliance. Monitor and manage departmental KPIs including attainment, downtime, waste, labor efficiency, quality, and attendance. Identify and help execute improvement opportunities related to labor utilization, downtime reduction, changeover performance, waste reduction, standard work, and employee engagement. Lead and participate in daily production meetings, shift huddles, and performance reviews to communicate priorities, review results, assign actions, and ensure follow-through. Review weekly schedules and work with planning to reduce number of changeovers or in-week schedule changes. Partner with Maintenance, Quality, Warehouse, Planning, HR, and other departments to improve plant performance. Escalate risks, barriers, and performance gaps with clear facts, ownership, timing, and recommended countermeasures. Support operational leadership coverage as assigned Perform other duties as assigned. Qualifications Qualifications & Competencies A Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field is preferred. Minimum of 3–5 years of manufacturing leadership experience, including direct supervision of production teams. Equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of a degree. Strong leadership abilities, with experience in managing and motivating a diverse team of production workers to meet operational goals. Proficiency in using production management software, ERP systems, and Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) to track performance and generate reports. Experience in food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, or a regulated manufacturing environment preferred Strong verbal and written communication skills to effectively interact with production staff, managers, and other departments. Knowledge of workplace safety protocols and regulations, with a commitment to maintaining a safe working environment. Understanding of production machinery, processes, and technologies. Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or other process improvement methodologies is often preferred. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to quickly address issues in production, equipment, or personnel. #J-18808-Ljbffr Eagle Family Foods Group LLC