Plant Manager

Plant Manager

Nutramax desires to provide a drug-free, healthful, and safe workplace. We hold a zero-tolerance policy for drug use. Employment is contingent upon successfully passing a preemployment background check and drug screen (subject to applicable law). The standard hours for this position are Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm, and may vary as the Plant Manager supports 1st shift (Monday Friday 7:00am 3:30pm), 2nd shift (Monday Friday 3:15pm 11:30pm) and 3rd shift (Sunday Thursday 11:15pm 7:15am). This role is 100% on site at our Headquarters location: 946 Quality Drive, Lancaster, SC 29720.

The Plant Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and strategic direction of a nutraceutical manufacturing facility. This role is accountable for achieving world-class performance in Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and People Development while ensuring compliance with all GMP, regulatory, environmental, and company standards.

The Plant Manager leads plant operations through a matrix organization and collaborates closely with functional leaders in Maintenance, Manufacturing Engineering, Packaging Engineering, Quality, Human Resources, Environmental Health & Safety (EHS), and Supply Chain to achieve business objectives and drive sustainable operational excellence.

The successful candidate must possess proven experience implementing Lean Manufacturing and Operational Excellence methodologies, with demonstrated success transforming manufacturing operations to significantly improve safety performance, process and product quality, operational reliability, labor productivity, equipment effectiveness, and cost competitiveness.

This position serves as the senior operational leader for the facility and is responsible for developing and executing short- and long-term site strategies that support business growth, capacity expansion, new product introductions, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Business Performance

Develop and execute the manufacturing site's strategic plan aligned with corporate objectives.

Establish annual operating plans, productivity targets, and performance improvement initiatives.

Drive achievement of key business metrics related to Safety, Quality, Service, Cost, and Employee Engagement.

Lead site readiness for growth initiatives, capacity expansion projects, new product commercialization, and technology implementation.

Foster a culture of accountability, operational discipline, continuous improvement, and employee development.

Partner with senior leadership to support long-term business growth and operational capabilities.

Operational Excellence & Lean Transformation

Champion Lean Manufacturing principles across all plant operations.

Lead transformation efforts utilizing Lean, Six Sigma, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Daily Management Systems, Visual Factory, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, Standard Work, A3 Problem Solving, Root Cause Analysis, and 5S methodologies.

Drive elimination of waste, inefficiencies, downtime, rework, deviations, scrap, changeover losses, and other Hidden Factory activities.

Establish a culture of continuous improvement through employee engagement and problem-solving at all levels.

Lead plant-wide Operational Excellence initiatives designed to improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), labor productivity, throughput, and asset utilization.

Ensure sustainable implementation of continuous improvement systems and performance management processes.

Manufacturing Leadership

Direct overall manufacturing operations to ensure safe, compliant, and efficient production.

Ensure production schedules are executed to meet customer demand, process and product quality standards, inventory objectives, and service levels.

Drive improvements in manufacturing performance through process optimization and operational discipline.

Establish performance metrics and accountability systems that support continuous improvement.

Conduct regular Gemba walks and operational reviews to drive employee engagement and operational execution.

Ensure adherence to Safety Compliance Standards, Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs), SOPs, quality standards, and regulatory requirements.

Matrix Leadership of Functional Support Organizations

The Plant Manager provides operational leadership and strategic direction while partnering with functional leaders responsible for:

Maintenance

Improve asset reliability and equipment uptime.

Implement reliability-centered maintenance strategies.

Lead preventive and predictive maintenance programs.

Reduce downtime and maintenance-related losses.

Manufacturing Engineering

Drive process optimization and capacity improvements.

Support automation and productivity initiatives.

Evaluate and implement manufacturing technologies that improve safety, efficiency and quality.

Packaging Engineering

Improve packaging lines performance and changeover effectiveness.

Support packaging innovation and material optimization initiatives.

Drive cost reduction and productivity improvements.

Quality

Foster a culture of quality ownership throughout the organization.

Ensure compliance with FDA, GMP, customer, and internal quality requirements.

Reduce product loss, deviations, customer complaints, and non-conformances through proactive quality systems.

Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)

Promote a zero-incident safety culture.

Ensure compliance with all environmental, health, and safety regulations.

Lead behavior-based safety and risk reduction initiatives.

Supply Chain

Collaborate to optimize inventory levels, production planning, and customer service performance.

Support Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) initiatives.

Improve material flow and supply chain responsiveness.

Financial Management

Develop and manage annual operating budgets.

Drive continuous reduction in manufacturing costs through productivity improvements and waste elimination.

Improve labor efficiency, material yield, equipment utilization, and cost of goods sold (COGS).

Identify and execute cost savings opportunities while maintaining safety, quality, and service standards.

Support capital investment planning and return-on-investment analysis.

People Leadership & Organizational Development

Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing manufacturing organization.

Build organizational capability through talent development, succession planning, and employee engagement.

Establish clear performance expectations and accountability.

Foster a culture that encourages innovation, teamwork, ownership, and continuous learning.

Mentor leaders throughout the organization and develop future operational leaders.

Promote strong employee relations and positive workplace culture.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Ensure full compliance with FDA regulations, cGMP requirements, OSHA standards, and company policies.

Lead site initiatives that continuously improve safety performance and quality outcomes.

Actively participate in regulatory inspections, customer audits, and internal audits.

Ensure corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) are implemented effectively and sustainably.

Drive continuous improvements in audit readiness and regulatory compliance.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The Plant Manager is accountable for achieving targets in the following areas:

Safety

Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR)

Near Miss Reporting

Corrective Action Closure

Safety Observation Participation

Quality

Right First Time (RFT)

Deviations

Customer Complaints

CAPA Effectiveness

Audit Findings

Delivery

On-Time-In-Full (OTIF)

Schedule Adherence

Manufacturing Throughput

Customer Service Levels

Cost

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Labor Productivity

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Material Yield

Waste Reduction

People

Employee Engagement

Turnover

Training Compliance

Leadership Development

Succession Readiness

Success Profile

The ideal candidate is a transformational manufacturing leader who has successfully led Lean Operational Excellence initiatives, built high-performing teams, improved safety and quality performance, and delivered measurable increases in productivity and profitability within a regulated manufacturing environment while practicing company leadership module and company published core values. This individual is equally comfortable