Plant Manager – Union City, CA
About the job
IRCA is a leading international provider of semi-finished ingredients for the bakery, pastry and gelato markets, serving independent producers as well as large food manufacturers (e.g. CPG). Core products include chocolate, chocolate decorations, creams, pastry mixes, gelato ingredients, and other bakery / pastry ingredients.
The Company, headquartered in Italy, was acquired by Advent International, the global Private Equity firm, in July 2022, and has a strong track record of growth over the last decade. IRCA has made 2 bolt-on acquisitions in the areas of candied fruits (Cesarin) and pistachio ingredients (Anastasi) in 2022, and recently entered exclusive negotiations to acquire a leading manufacturer of sweet and cereal products in Europe and the US. The target’s business focuses on high value add specialty ingredients for the Food Manufacturers segment, with a portfolio that incorporates a range of products including sweet particulates, chocolate confections, baked inclusions, variegates and fruit purées.
This transformative deal would create a global leader in the semi-finished ingredients industry, with 22 manufacturing facilities in Europe, US and Vietnam and a combined €1 billion of revenues (2022).
Purpose of Position
The Plant Manager is accountable for leading the overall operations at our plant located in Union City, CA. The Plant Manager will build capability throughout the plant team to ensure the sustainable performance and growth of the site through capacity, resource, and talent planning in close partnership with relevant functional leaders. The Plant Manager will ensure strong collaboration with our various leaders throughout Irca Group and our commercial colleagues to connect with our overall manufacturing planning and performance. The Plant Manager will work to ensure that our plant teams are clear on our vision and our purpose, including clearly understanding how their roles and collective plant performance help contribute to us being our customers’ most valued partner.
Key responsibilities
- Leading out on improvement of plant Organizational Health targets (including active & clearly communicated engagement plans across selected areas of priority)
- Lead plant level productivity across areas of asset management, performance, and efficiencies in line with agreed business terms
- Development of plant strategy, underpinned by a master schedule in line with growth plans and relevant manufacturing strategy
- Lead and embed a CI mindset across the plant, actively seeking improvements and efficiency of operations, demonstrating an ability and team encouragement to identify and drive continuous improvement initiatives
- Lead key change initiatives across the plant (and connect to plant master schedule), with required functional support e.g., automation, digital, sustainability etc.
- Lead a performance management and measurement discipline across the plant, with focused analysis of plan performance data, recognizing individual/team achievements, setting clear plans to address performance gaps, understanding trends and proactively identifying opportunities for improvement
- Working with our manufacturing and broader functional leadership to ensure a connected view of plant priorities and connectivity to our EUM/commercial strategy, in line with customer segmentation criteria – ensuring a clear representation of plant perspectives, ideas and considerations needed to inform best decision making for the company.
- Play an active part in New Product Development (NPD) processes in line with agreed ways of working, partnering with RDA and commercial as required to bring clarity to implications e.g., cost, service levels, OTIF etc.
- Work with manufacturing leadership to ensure that all plants are sharing best practice across the plant network, participating in our Plant Leadership community
- Driving proactive resolution for areas that do/could potentially impact plant performance through partnering with the relevant function in IO (QSHE, Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement)
Professional Skills & Education:
- 8 + years of progressive experience in manufacturing and plant operations at a leadership level
- BA/BS/MS in Engineering, Business, Food Science preferred
- Demonstrated success as a change agent & developing/implementing continuous improvement initiatives and accountability programs
- Demonstrated success assessing, developing, and retaining top talent
- Proven ability to drive process improvements, adhere to budgets, and maintain regulatory compliance
- Financial analysis acumen and experience maintaining budgets or capital spend
Language Skills:
- Fluent in verbal and written English required
- Ability to verbally communicate in Spanish preferred
Behavioral requirements:
- Proven ability to lead direct and in direct reports
- Continuous Improvement
- Strategic Thinking, Managing Change, Critical Thinking, Continuous Cost Focus, Technical Expertise, Influence and Delivery of Sustainable Results
- Develop strong working relationships with colleagues across various departments, including financial, supply chain, sales and commercial entities, and seniority level leaders.
- Multi-tasking, organizational and time management expertise.
- Problem solving skills.
Why Join Us:
Irca Group offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits:
Medical, Dental, & Vision, 401(k) matching, Paid Vacation, Sick Time, and Holidays, Employee Education Tuition Reimbursement Program
Salary Base Range of $175,000 – $205,000 for Employees Located in California* in addition to Annual bonus (based on the incentive program terms and conditions)
*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 California-based employees as Irca group is required by California 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.