Assistant Plant Manager

Job Description

Job Description

About Sara Lee Frozen Bakery:

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery became a stand- alone company in 2018 when it was purchased by Kohlberg and Company (private equity) from Tyson Foods. Our desserts have always stood for incredible flavor and superior value in the frozen food aisle and away from home markets. The Sara Lee Frozen Bakery collection of top brands includes Sara Lee®, Chef Pierre®, Bistro Collection®, Superior on Main® and Cyrus O’Leary’s®.

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is proud to take these iconic brands into a new era and to continue the evolution that transformed one small Chicago bakery into an American institution. Using carefully sourced ingredients and time-honored recipes, the company is committed to making life’s moments a little sweeter, putting its customers first and discovering new ways to make everyone’s favorite foods even better.

Working for Sara Lee:

Our vision is to be the world’s most beloved bakery by creating irresistible foods, growing with our customers, and delivering value for all. We will achieve success through collaboration and innovation in an environment where employees feel empowered to execute with speed. We believe that each of us has unique points of difference and experience to offer. We believe that there is always a better way, and we will never be satisfied with status quo. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, continually seek process improvements and a strong sense of customer service, then this is the right type of environment for you.

Summary:

The Assistant Bakery Manager will partner with the Bakery Director in overseeing and driving the daily operations of the manufacturing facility and will serve as a senior operational leader and delegate as needed. This role provides leadership across production and operations, with responsibility for safe, efficient, cost-effective, and high-quality manufacturing performance. The Assistant Bakery Manager will lead and develop Value Stream Managers and Production Supervisors, align priorities across value streams and support functions, and establish systems and processes that improve productivity, reliability, quality, service, and overall bakery performance.

The role will champion Lean, Six Sigma, and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) methodologies while leveraging Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), including platforms such as Redzone, to improve operational visibility, identify losses, optimize labor and equipment performance, and sustain improvements. The Assistant Bakery Manager will own key production operating routines and help translate bakery objectives into disciplined execution through the Value Stream Managers, fostering a culture of accountability, engagement, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead, coach, develop, and direct Value Stream Managers and Production Supervisors to achieve safety, quality, service, productivity, cost, and employee engagement objectives.
• Build leadership capability within the operations organization through ongoing coaching, performance management, succession planning, and development of Value Stream Managers and Supervisors.
• Provide operational leadership across the bakery and lead assigned production operations to deliver products safely, on schedule, at required quality and service levels, and in a cost-effective manner.
• Monitor production schedules and adjust resources, staffing, and priorities as necessary to meet customer demand while protecting safety, quality, service, and cost objectives.
• Own production labor performance, including staffing models, labor standards, overtime controls, workforce utilization, and corrective actions required to achieve budget and productivity objectives.
• Champion the development, implementation, and sustainability of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) programs, including autonomous maintenance, preventative maintenance, equipment reliability, and loss elimination.
• Leverage Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), including Redzone or similar platforms, to monitor production performance, analyze downtime and losses, improve labor and equipment utilization, and drive data-based decision-making.
• Establish and manage the bakery production daily management system, including operating routines, KPI reviews, escalation processes, shift handoffs, and follow-up mechanisms that drive accountability to bakery goals.
• Identify opportunities to improve OEE, throughput, labor productivity, yield, downtime, waste, and overall equipment reliability.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives using Lean and Six Sigma methodologies and ensure improvements are sustained over time.
• Integrate and align Production with Maintenance, Engineering, FSQA, Sanitation, Supply Chain, Finance, Human Resources, and other cross-functional partners to improve manufacturing processes, remove barriers, and eliminate operational losses.
• Ensure Production delivers against safety, food safety, quality, regulatory, customer, and SQF requirements and maintains readiness for internal, customer, and third-party audits.
• Drive timely closure of production-related audit findings, food safety and quality corrective actions, and operational compliance gaps in partnership with FSQA and the appropriate functional owners.
• Create a culture of commitment to quality, safety, accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement across all functional areas.
• Develop and deliver production and operating expense budgets; translate operational performance into financial impact; and identify sustainable opportunities to improve labor, material usage, productivity, and cost.
• Contribute to capital planning, develop business justification for operational investments, and lead capital and continuous improvement projects that improve capacity, reliability, safety, quality, service, and efficiency.
• Manage ingredients, materials, labor, and other resources in accordance with established standards and business objectives.
• Prepare and present operational performance, financial impacts, risks, and recommendations to the Bakery Director and other business leaders.
• Build a culture of accountability and teamwork by developing Value Stream Managers to own their businesses, lead their teams, resolve issues at the appropriate level, and rigorously execute core manufacturing systems.
• Demonstrate strong problem-solving capabilities and a bias for action to rapidly identify and eliminate operational losses.
• Proactively lead cost savings and productivity improvement projects to meet plant and company objectives.

The position responsibilities outlined above are not to be construed as all encompassing. Other duties and responsibilities may be required and/or assigned as necessary.

Education, Knowledge and Skill Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Technology, Operations, or a related field highly preferred.
• 7–10+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing/operations, with significant experience leading production teams and managing people leaders.
• Experience leading and developing Value Stream Managers, Production Managers, Supervisors, or other frontline manufacturing leaders.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing TPM, autonomous maintenance, preventative maintenance, or other equipment reliability programs.
• Experience utilizing Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), such as Redzone or similar platforms, to drive production performance, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Strong knowledge of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies, with a demonstrated track record of implementing sustainable process improvements.
• Proven ability to drive change, transform culture, and improve operational performance in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Experience managing budgets, labor, productivity, material usage, operating costs, and translating operational performance into financial impact.
• Strong organizational, leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to effectively influence and collaborate across multiple levels of an organization and across cross-functional departments.
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, coach, and develop high-performing teams.
• Ability to work with limited supervision and demonstrate a high degree of personal accountability and ownership.
• Prior bakery and/or food manufacturing experience preferred.  

Personal Attributes:

The Sara Lee Leader is one who:

• Role Models Integrity - Creates a culture of respect and inclusion, where all team members are empowered to contribute.
• Masters their Craft - Continually develops their skills and expertise to drive self, team, and company forward. Is intellectually curious, asking questions to inspire a better way.
• Values Partnerships - Frames the tough issues and works productively through them. Paves the way for their team to build relationships and collaborate effectively.
• Behaves Like a Business Owner - Perseveres toward a goal, despite obstacles and distraction.
• Navigates Change - Adapts quickly to address the most critical business needs. Leads the charge around capabilities, processes, and systems.

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.