Production Manager

Guardian Energy is hiring a Production Manager for the Janesville plant — Minnesota's largest dry-mill ethanol facility and a top-quartile plant on yield and efficiency. This Way Up has been retained for the search.Read on to find out what you will need to succeed in this position, including skills, qualifications, and experience.This is a floor-and-people job. You will run daily ethanol production, lead operators and technicians, fix problems before they become downtime, and keep safety and output where this plant is expected to be.The PlantGuardian Energy Janesville grinds local corn into roughly 150 million gallons of ethanol a year, plus DDGS, corn oil, and low-CI cellulosic ethanol. The plant sits east of Janesville, buys from farmers within about 75 miles, and is part of a farmer-owned, multi-plant group managed by Guardian Energy Management. Predictive Search has worked with Guardian for ten years, including the current CEO search. Retention and operating performance here are not talking points. They show up in the numbers.What you will ownLead, coach, and schedule production operators and techniciansDiagnose process and equipment problems with engineering and maintenance; cut downtimeDrive continuous improvement, lean methods, and cost-per-gallon disciplineHold the line on safety, environmental, and regulatory standards — audits, incidents, and prevention includedCoordinate production with Maintenance, Quality, and EngineeringTrack KPIs and report plant performance to leadershipHelp manage the production budget: chemicals, labor, and overheadWhat you bringBachelor's degree in chemical engineering or a related field, with relevant plant experience5+ years in production or operations management, including at least 2 years supervising in an industrial settingEthanol, biofuels, or chemical-process experience strongly preferredComfort in DCS / process-control systems, production software, and Microsoft OfficeA bias for root-cause thinking, not workaroundsLean / Six Sigma or production-management certification is a plusAbility xhyhwjd to work in a running plant: on your feet, around noise and equipment, lifting up to 50 lbs as neededBenefitsGuardian offers paid holidays and generous PTO, low-cost medical/dental/pharmacy, FSA and HSA with company contributions, employer-paid life and disability, retirement with employer contribution (6% 401(k) match), an EAP, production incentives / profit sharing, and tuition reimbursement.How to explore furtherPlease schedule a ½ hour introductory phone call with Lee to discuss the opportunity in detail and see if it is a next step that aligns for you. Intro call scheduling link: can always reach out to Lee via InMail or | View phone number on click.appcast.io