Plant Manager - Director of Operations

ABOUT US:

We use American corn and existing bioethanol infrastructure to produce critical chemicals right here at home—powering U.S. competitiveness and securing our nation's supply chains - while reinvesting in agricultural America. Bluestem Biosciences has engineered a breakthrough in American manufacturing. Our proprietary biomanufacturing process represents a new, cost-effective, and advantaged way to produce platform chemicals domestically. With the foundation of existing infrastructure, we convert abundant, renewable American corn into high-value chemicals at scale. JOIN US AS WE ACCELERATE TO COMMERCIALIZATION

Role Summary

We are seeking a dynamic and strategic Plant Manager to lead our biochemical production facility from initial commissioning into full-scale commercial operation. In this critical leadership role, you will be responsible for building, mentoring, and guiding the facility's operations team from the ground up while establishing a high-performing operational culture.

As Plant Manager, you will oversee day-to-day site execution, drive continuous operational improvements, and serve as a key strategic bridge to executive leadership. Beyond analyzing performance data, you will synthesize complex operational reporting and present clear, actionable solutions and strategic paths forward to the executive team. Additionally, you will masterfully manage plant scheduling—striking a balance between high-efficiency production targets and critical R&D scale-up activities using shared facility assets.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Operational Improvement

• Team Building & Leadership: Build, structure, and directly mentor the plant operations, engineering, and technician teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence, accountability, and safety compliance.
• Executive Advisory & Reporting: Synthesize complex site performance data, critical path risks, and budgetary tracking into executive-level briefings. Regularly recommend strategic solutions and clear paths forward to the executive leadership team.
• Continuous Improvement: Proactively identify operational bottlenecks, drive process optimizations, and implement lean/continuous improvement strategies to maximize plant yield and efficiency.
• Technology Transfer Management: Partner with R&D, process development, and strain-engineering teams to establish formal Tech Transfer protocols, translating bench-top and pilot-scale process packages into scalable, robust plant operations.
• Pilot Campaign Execution & Risk Mitigation: Lead the operational risk-mapping and execution of experimental campaigns or strain/feedstock trials, ensuring standard commercial campaigns are not compromised by R&D batch failures.

Facility Operations & Scheduling

• Asset & Schedule Balancing: Oversee site master scheduling, skillfully balancing the resource and asset requirements between commercial production throughput and vital R&D/scale-up activities.
• Supply Chain & Inventory Management: Maintain critical plant inventories, monitor chemical and feedstock supply levels, and proactively manage reordering processes to eliminate operational downtime and maintain uninterrupted production schedules. 
• Commissioning & Startup Leadership: Direct the facility's transition from Mechanical Completion to full operational startup, overseeing Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation (CQV) activities (FAT, SAT).
• Process Engineering Support: Provide hands-on oversight for complex biochemical systems, utilizing Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to solve equipment failures or yield deviations.
• Safety & Compliance: Author, implement, and enforce robust Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Work Instructions, and Site Safety Protocols (including LOTO, confined space entry, and PSM).
• Flexible Change Management: Build and manage a flexible Management of Change (MOC) framework that accommodates frequent R&D-driven recipe, organism, and parameter changes without compromising site safety or regulatory compliance.
• Analytical & QC Integration: Oversee on-site laboratory/QC operations to ensure rapid-turnaround analytical support for critical fermentation metrics (e.g., cell density, metabolite profiles) needed by both production and scientific teams.

Requirements

• Education: B.S. or advanced degree in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Experience: 7+ years of progressive operations management experience in biochemical or specialty chemical manufacturing. Proven track record of managing major brownfield or greenfield facility startups.
• Team Building: Demonstrated experience hiring, structuring, and leading multi-disciplinary operational teams.
• Technical Expertise: Deep experience in aerobic/anaerobic fermentation, aseptic processing, and downstream purification dynamics. Strong background in P&ID development, PFDs, and HAZOP leadership.
• Strategic & Communication Skills: Exceptional capability to translate complex technical/operational challenges into clear recommendations for executive leadership. Strong cross-functional collaboration and scheduling abilities.
• Location/Travel: Ability to be based on-site or travel to the facility up to 100% of the time during commissioning and initial production phases.

Bluestem is an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.