Plant Manager

Join Miguel’s Team as aPlant Manager!

At Miguel’s, we believe food is more than just a meal — it’s away to share love and create memorable experiences. We’re looking for apassionate and experienced Plant Manager to lead our production operations witha focus on quality, safety, and authenticity. If you’re driven by purpose, takepride in producing real food, and thrive in a collaborative, values-basedenvironment, we’d love to welcome you to our team — where everything we do isguided by our Why value: to share the love with everyone we serve.

We're looking for someone who:

Weoffer:

• Great Compensation (DOE)
• Company offered insurancebenefits (Medical, Dental, Vision Plans)
• Company Paid Life Insurance
• 401(k) Plan with up to 4% CompanyMatch

Position Summary

The PlantManager leads Mary’s Kitchen (MK), the centralized commissary and foodmanufacturing facility supporting Miguel’s Jr. Restaurants. MK plays a criticalrole in producing and delivering authentic, high-quality Mexican food productsthat uphold the standards of a beloved family-owned restaurant brand. This roleis responsible for overseeing daily operations, ensuring food safety andquality, and driving continuous improvement across the facility.

PositionResponsibilities:

PLANTMANAGER TASKS:

• Budgetand Cost Control: Manage budgets and control plant expenses, while reducing inefficiencies andwaste. Be able to perform cost analyses to determine labor, materials, consumables,and utilities to determine cost per pound for each type of product produced inthe facility. Ability to adapt this information to determine optimal sizes orminimum batch quantities and when to schedule production time for certainproducts.
• Management: Overall management of operations,including supervisory responsibilities for managers, assistant managers, andteam members.
• ProductionPlanning: Overseedaily operations to ensure safety, quality and production standards are met andmaintain quality standards with team and food suppliers.
• ProcessMonitoring : Monitor and test various plantprocesses including ingredient receiving inspection, recipe verification, batchrecords and quality control of finished product.
• ProcessImprovements: Continuouslyidentify and improve inefficient operations, suggest new ideas and createconcepts to solve them by means of new infrastructure or processing equipment.
• Purchasing: Oversee teammembers that purchase products and advise on how to bring costs down. Example,order larger quantities, primary/secondary vendors, or set up contracts on anannual purchase basis with scheduled deliveries.
• HandsOn Engagement: Providehands-on support for team members to fill in when needed. Perform allpreparation, cooking, cleaning, or packaging operations on short notice.
• ConstructionCoordination: General knowledge and experience withconstruction related tasks. Be able to coordinate with contractors formaintenance and capital projects while dealing with scheduled shutdowns in a foodproduction environment.
• MaintenanceCoordination: Evaluateequipment and determine preventative maintenance requirements to make sure thatthe “up time” of the equipment is achieved to reduce downtime duringproduction.
• QAExperience: Beaware of proper procedures from a QA perspective. Guide team members to ensurefood quality standards are met.
• Delivery Vehicles: Management of the company owneddelivery vehicles, route coordination and schedules.

ADMINISTRATIVETASKS:

• Inventorycontrol: Manageand maintain inventory.
• Data Analysis: Collect and analyze data to optimizeproduction processes and improve efficiency.
• Policydevelopment: Develop and execute plant policies and procedures that align with the company'sgoals. Manage company policies, HACCP structure and OLE Academy (trainingplatform) for team members. These responsibilities help maintain highstandards in food production and ensure the plant operates efficiently andsafely.
• TeamBuilding & Leadership : Create weekly schedule, payrollprocedures and promote safety as part of the hiring, training, and mentorstaff, and ensure company policies and procedures are followed; HACCP leader inkitchen and delivery vehicles.
• Other Leadership Duties: Train new employees. Attend variousmeetings: Leadership meetings, Project planning, 1:1 meeting with Manager.

HACCP EXPERIENCE:

• Monitoringand verification : Regular review of HACCP activities and data to ensure compliance with safetystandards.
• Trainingand Communication: Oversee training and follow up with all team members to establish the importance of foodsafety protocols
• OverseeHACCP protocols for delivery vehicles: Oversee programsfor vehicles and deliveryprocess.
• Documentationand Record -Keeping :Ensure all HACCP documentation is accurate and up to date.

FOODKNOWLEDGE:

• FoodKnowledge : Ensurethorough knowledge of food products, ingredients, and processes to maintaincompliance with company standards and regulatory requirements.
• ProductionProcesses: Oversee production processes tomaintain the authentic taste, texture, and presentation of various food items,preferrable experience with traditional Mexican food items (e.g., tortillas,salsas, marinades, proteins).
• RecipeStandards: Ensureall products meet authentic recipe standards while complying with food safetyand regulatory requirements.
• Suppliers: Monitorsuppliers to ensure quality and consistency of traditional ingredients.
• FoodPreparation Techniques: Leverageknowledge of food preparation techniques (e.g., marination, roasting, frying,sauce blending) to troubleshoot production issues and maintain productauthenticity.
• CulinarySkills: Balance culinary authenticity withscalable manufacturing practices, ensuring efficiency without compromisingproduct quality.

EXPERIENCE& EDUCATION:

• Bachelor’sin food science, Ops Management, Business, or equivalent experience.
• 5+years in food production/manufacturing.
• 3+years in leadership or supervisory roles.
• Bilingual,English, and Spanish is required

TECHNICALPROFICIENCY:

• Knowledgeof Food Safety Regulatory departments which could include:
• Food& Drug Agency (FDA)
• UnitedStates Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
• California Department of Public Health (CDPH)
• Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
• SafeQuality Food (SQF Code 9)
• FoodSafety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
• FoodSafety Modernization Act (FSMA)
• Advancedfood safety training
• LocalCity Departments (Wastewater, Fire Department, Chemical Fire Suppression,Building Dept)
• Strongproblem-solving and decision-making in high-pressure environments.
• Proactivemaintenance and crisis response skills.

CORECOMPETENCIES:

• Problemsolving and decision-making skills
• Teammanagement skills / ability to co-ordinate and coach a team
• Effectivecommunication skills and responsibilities
• Technicalknowledge and skills (Microsoft Office, HARRI, Paylocity, Asana or other PMsoftware

PHYSICAL DEMANDS ANDWORK ENVIRONMENT:

Thephysical demands and work environment characteristics described here arerepresentative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully performthe essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made toenable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Physical demands: While performing the duties of thisjob, the employee is required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; climbstairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell. Theemployee must occasionally lift and/ or move up to 75 pounds. Specificvision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision,color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjustfocus.
• Work environment: While performing the duties of thisjob, the employee is exposed to varying temperatures and atmosphericconditions, i.e., heat, cold, humidity. The noise level in the work environmentis usually moderate and consistent with a commercial kitchen environment.