Director of Operations

We're looking for a Director of Operations to oversee production, quality, maintenance, sanitation, planning, packaging, and warehouse/logistics for a growing food manufacturer in Milwaukee. The leader needs to be hands-on and technically engaged, with strong people leadership skill and prior food manufacturing site leadership experience.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead plant operations across production, ingredient preparation, processing, packaging, production planning, QA, sanitation, maintenance, and finished-goods warehousing.

Build a visible, people-first leadership presence through plant walks, meetings, coaching, performance management, and clear communication with employees and managers.

Maintain food safety and quality systems, including HACCP, SQF, SOPs, sanitation, customer requirements, and regulatory compliance.

Manage employee safety and OSHA requirements; support incident reduction and safe work practices.

Improve productivity, cost control, conversion costs, waste, and cost of goods sold.

Oversee preventive and reactive maintenance, parts inventory, plant equipment, and facility improvements.

Coordinate new product and packaging changes with R&D, QA, procurement, IT, sales, and customers.

Maintain accurate production, paperwork, inventory, and finished-goods fulfillment processes.

Develop operational depth and documentation across the plant.

Required Skills:

Fluent Spanish and English communication.

Plant or site operations leadership in food manufacturing.

Hands-on understanding of production, food safety, quality, sanitation, and maintenance.

People leadership in a production environment, including workforce engagement and accountability.

Operational problem-solving, cost control, and continuous improvement.

Ability to work onsite in the Milwaukee plant and adapt hours to business and production needs.

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in operations management or equivalent experience preferred.

10 years in operations and 5 years in plant leadership

Strong communication, analytical, decision-making, and financial skills.

Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, Power BI, and Nav; ability to use AutoCAD Viewer

Preferred Experience:

Continuous improvement training or a strong CI track record.

Consumer packaged goods manufacturing.

Refrigerated, ready-to-eat, deli, or other perishable food production.

HACCP, SQF, food safety, and audit experience.