Our client is a family-owned dairy company with more than 160 years of service. Their name has been synonymous with fresh, quality dairy products that taste great. They have grown into one of the country’s largest branded dairy operators with approximately 3,000 employees and 13 manufacturing plants throughout the United States.

Reporting to the Sr. Operations Director, the Director of Operations will oversee the manufacturing activities of multiple sites in Upstate NY, ensuring manufacturing/warehousing cost, safety standards, and quality standards are achieved.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Plan, organize, direct and provide leadership necessary for achieving plant and corporate goals in the area of Safety, Quality, Labor Relations, Customer Service, and Cost (CPU and Variances).

Responsible for the successful attainment of Production, Quality and Safety objectives, implementation of policies, and most effective utilization of available resources while ensuring all customer, regulatory and legal requirements are followed.

Contributes to development of annual budget, performance goals and process and operational improvements.

Ensure compliance with all legal requirements concerning dairy processing, environmental, safety, and working conditions.

Responsible for training and development of direct reports.

Stay abreast of new technologies associated with the industry, through trade magazines, training classes and technical manuals.

Implement, manage and evaluate operation processes and procedures, in accordance with the standards and procedures set out by the organization.

Supervise plant Sr. leadership; ensure their functional objectives are being carried out; coach them towards improved performance and working jointly as a single team

Oversee expanding capital installations and integrate new customers and product lines into existing production and distribution

Provide leadership for effective employee relations through positive proactive communication, coaching, training, problem resolution, and follow up.   Work with each site on employee tenement initiatives.

Manage safety programs and procedures to exceed company goals on both leading and lagging indicators.

Support continuous improvement of Production, Safety and food safety management systems.

Education and Experience:

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.

10-12 years of year’s progressive management experience in a manufacturing environment.

Industry experience within dairy required with strong preference towards cultured-dairy products.

Budgeting and planning experience required.

Skills and Competencies:

Ability to manage multiple projects and initiatives.

Operations management responsibility in a 7X24 operation.

Excellent communication and follow-up skills with a strong drive for continuous improvement.

Knowledge of PMO and other related regulatory guidelines as well as interaction with federal and state government employees.

Experience in building functional teams.

Experience with filling, and packaging.

Must be eligible to work in the US without sponsorship.

For more information, please contact Moira McGrath at (954) 428-3888. e-mail moira@foodscience.com