Production Manager

Echo Lake Foods is a leading manufacturer of ready-to-eat egg products and breakfast foods, including waffles, pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, omelets, and egg patties, serving major retail, foodservice, and national restaurant customers across the United States. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Burlington, Wisconsin, the company operates multiple production facilities throughout the Midwest and has built a strong reputation for quality, innovation, and customer partnerships.

In 2025, Echo Lake Foods was acquired by Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the United States, marking an exciting new chapter of growth. This partnership strengthens our resources, expands our capabilities, and supports continued investment in our people, facilities, and products. Creating new opportunities for employees to grow their careers within a stable and expanding organization.

Position Summary:

The Production Manager is responsible for overseeing all daily production operations to ensure safe, efficient, and compliant manufacturing of food products. This role provides leadership for Supervisors, Leads, and line teams, ensuring adherence to GMPs, HACCP, food safety programs, customer specifications, and productivity standards. The Production Manager drives continuous improvement, resolves cross-functional issues, and ensures the plant meets its goals for safety, quality, service, and cost.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Operational Execution
• Oversee all production lines across assigned shifts to meet schedule requirements, output targets, labor plans, and customer expectations.
• Develop, implement, and manage production strategies that drive efficiency, minimize downtime, and improve overall productivity.
• Ensure proper line staffing, cross-training, and labor utilization in coordination with HR and Supervisors.
• Lead daily production meetings and participate in weekly planning, inventory, and cross-functional leadership meetings.
• Monitor and analyze KPIs (Efficiency, OEE, Throughput, Waste, Yield, Labor Utilization), taking proactive action to address variances.

Quality, Food Safety & Specification Adherence
• Ensure all finished products meet customer and internal specifications for quality, appearance, weight, coding, packaging, labeling, and palletization.
• Maintain strict compliance with HACCP, CCP/CP monitoring, allergen control, SQF/FSMA requirements, and internal audit standards.
• Oversee product hold/release processes and ensure effective root cause analysis for deviations or non-conformances.
• Collaborate with QA to enforce corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) and maintain continuous compliance readiness.
• Ensure operator and supervisor adherence to all quality control procedures, documentation standards, and verification steps.

GMP, Safety & Regulatory Compliance
• Champion a culture of safety and GMP excellence across all production areas.
• Ensure all employees follow GMPs, proper gowning, sanitation rules, and hygiene procedures.
• Conduct routine plant walkthroughs focused on safety, GMPs, housekeeping, and equipment conditions.
• Partner with EH&S to ensure compliance with OSHA, LOTO, machine guarding, ergonomics, and accident prevention programs.
• Ensure production areas meet or exceed audit expectations for SQF, regulatory, customer, and internal compliance.

People Leadership, Coaching & Development
• Lead, mentor, and develop Production Supervisors, Leads, and line teams to support operational excellence.
• Conduct performance evaluations, set goals, and provide ongoing coaching and accountability.
• Support positive employee relations, addressing concerns respectfully and promptly.
• Drive training programs to ensure employees understand SOPs, GMPs, safety practices, and job-specific competencies.
• Partner with HR on hiring, onboarding, disciplinary actions, and workforce planning.

Continuous Improvement & Problem Solving
• Lead or support CI initiatives (Lean, Six Sigma, 5S, Kaizen) to eliminate waste, reduce downtime, and improve throughput.
• Use data-driven decision-making to identify trends, root causes, and improvement opportunities.
• Drive improvements in equipment reliability, changeover reduction, workflow efficiency, and material utilization.
• Support capital projects, equipment installations, and layout optimization.

Documentation, Reporting & Communication
• Oversee production documentation, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely completion of logs, reports, and KPI dashboards.
• Track production metrics daily and report deviations, corrective actions, and performance summaries to leadership.
• Communicate effectively with QA, Maintenance, Warehouse, Sanitation, Scheduling, and Procurement to ensure seamless operations.
• Ensure Supervisors maintain thorough and accurate shift handoff documentation.

Qualifications:

Required
• 5+ years of experience in food manufacturing, with at least 2 years in a leadership or supervisory role.
• Strong understanding of GMPs, HACCP, SQF/FSMA, CCP/CP monitoring, and food safety regulations.
• Proven ability to lead teams and manage multiple production areas simultaneously.
• Strong communication, leadership, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to interpret specifications, SOPs, operational data, and regulatory requirements.

Preferred
• Bachelor's degree in Food Science, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, 5S, and OEE improvement programs.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.
• Familiarity with ERP or manufacturing execution systems (MES).

Physical Requirements
• Ability to work on the production floor, including walking, standing, and climbing stairs for extended periods.
• Ability to work in temperature-controlled or variable environments (cold, hot, humid, noisy).
• Capability to lift up to 50 lbs occasionally if needed.

Work Environment
• Fast-paced food manufacturing environment with constant activity, moving equipment, packaging machinery, wet floors, and forklift traffic.
• May require off-shift or weekend support based on production needs.Position Summary
The Production Manager is responsible for overseeing all daily production operations to ensure safe, efficient, and compliant manufacturing of food products. This role provides leadership for Supervisors, Leads, and line teams, ensuring adherence to GMPs, HACCP, food safety programs, customer specifications, and productivity standards. The Production Manager drives continuous improvement, resolves cross-functional issues, and ensures the plant meets its goals for safety, quality, service, and cost.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, military service, protected veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.