Production Operator (1st Shift)

About us:

The Irca Group is an International Leader in high quality finished and semi-finished ingredients for the bakery, pastry, and ice cream markets. With a solid history of over 100 years in the industry, the Group has its headquarters in Italy (Gallarate) and a strong global footprint with 23 production sites and over 2000 employees in Europe, the United States and Vietnam.

Our core product categories include chocolate, compounds, chocolate decorations, sprinkles, creams, pastry mixes, gelato ingredients, nuts and candied fruit. The most recent acquisition of Kerry Sweet complements our existing categories with the addition of sweet particulates, chocolate confections, inclusions, variegates and frozen fruit purees.

"Extraordinary made simple"

About our Location:

Working as part of the Elk Grove Village team, you'll be filled with pride when you see your family and friends eating products you helped make! Your dedication and commitment will bring smiles to the homes across America. An Irca Group Production Operator will have the opportunity to become a well-rounded operator, learning multiple jobs and watching the transformation of a product from individual ingredients to finished products.

We are seeking Production Operators for 1st shift; Mon-Thrs; 3am -1:30pm, Available to work overtime as scheduled on Friday & Saturday.

Essential Responsibilities

• Mixing: Reading and following manufacturing order instructions listing which ingredients you'll gather, measure, weigh, and document the amount needed. Loading required ingredients (that may weigh up to 50lbs.) into a mixer, blending the ingredients based on time specifications, and unloading mixer to transfer mixed batch to next process.

• Extrusion: Process mixing batches through extrusion equipment to make finish product. Uses product controls to conduct product sensory to ensure finish product matches customer specifications throughout the extrusion process.

• Polishing: Responsible for managing and transferring finished product from our extrusion and drying processes. Put's the "finishing touch" on finished product using our panning process which require loading finished product from drums, carts, or trays into our polishing pans and adding liquid ingredients by hand or automation.

• Catching: Responsible for managing the transfer of finished product from our extrusion processes using drums, carts, or trays to the next process.

• Adherence to Human safety, food safety, Good Manufacturing Practices, and product quality are the highest priorities and a key essential function.

• Attendance is an essential responsibility.

Education & Experience Requirements

• Six months to one-year related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of training and experience.

• Ability to read, write and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating instructions, procedure manuals, quality documents and other related shipping documents.

• Ability to utilize handheld devices to scan ingredient barcodes and enter quantities used to maintain inventory accuracy.

• Ability to use of powered hand trucks to move finished product to the next process staging areas.

• Perform lock out/tag out responsibilities in which an operator must properly de-energize equipment when completing product unloading and mixing equipment cleaning activities.

• Use of sifting equipment in which finished product is "screened" to ensure product size and shape meets customer specifications

Physical Requirements

• The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Individuals must regularly lift and/or move up to 50+ pounds; and frequently lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. The employees must be able to roll up to 300 pounds drums. Individuals must frequently bend, twist, and reach.

$20 - $22 an hour

Irca Group USA LLC offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits: Medical, Dental, & Vision, 401(k) matching, Paid Vacation, and Holidays, Employee Education Tuition Reimbursement Program.

Irca Group USA LLC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.


Salary Base Range of $20.00 -$22.00 per hour for Employees Located in Illinois.


The "base salary range" provided above is a good faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position. The range provided is for Illinois employees as Irca group is required by Illinois State Law to post pay rates. Irca group reserves the right to pay outside of the given range based on a variety of factors including but not limited to candidate skills and experience, complexity of the job, budgetary factors, and location/geography. Irca group conducts regular reviews of compensation ranges and therefore reserves the right to alter this range at any given time.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.