Assistant Plant Manager (Alpha Plant)

Joining King’s Hawaiian makes you part of our `ohana (family). We are a family-owned business for over seventy years, respecting our roots while thinking about our future as we continue to grow and care for our customers and the communities we serve. Our `ohana members build an environment of inclusivity as they freely collaborate, pursue learning through curiosity, and explore innovation as critical thinkers. Beyond that, we are also passionate about supporting the long-term health and well-being of our employees and their families. If you’re excited to rise with our team, come and join our `ohana!

The Assistant Plant Manager role is a developmental position designed to prepare high-potential candidates for a future Plant Manager role. Reporting to the Plant Director, this position works to improve all aspects of plant operations, including production, maintenance, quality, safety, and continuous improvement. The Assistant Plant Manager will work closely with plant leadership to enhance productivity, optimize processes, and develop leadership capabilities while driving operational excellence.

This role is responsible for developing and improving the plant culture, ensuring a workplace that values people, prioritizes safety, and upholds the highest quality standards for our products. Additionally, the Assistant Plant Manager will be responsible for establishing and refining plant cadences that align short-term and long-term goals, ensuring sustained success.

Essential Job Duties And Responsibilities

• Leading daily plant operations, ensuring adherence to safety, quality, cost, and efficiency targets.
• Lead efforts to develop and sustain a positive plant culture, fostering an environment that values people, encourages collaboration, and promotes accountability.
• Develop and implement structured plant cadences that drive alignment on key priorities, ensuring both short-term execution and long-term strategic objectives are achieved.
• Partner with plant leadership, technical teams, engineering, and maintenance to ensure a holistic approach to plant reliability, optimizing equipment performance and minimizing downtime.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives by leveraging Lean, TPM, and Six Sigma methodologies.
• Provide oversight to production, maintenance, and technical support teams to maximize output and ensure plant reliability.
• Collaborate with quality teams to maintain compliance with food safety and regulatory requirements (FDA, OSHA, etc.).
• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Assist in managing the plant’s financial performance, including budgets, cost control, and profit & loss oversight.
• Develop and mentor frontline supervisors and staff, fostering a culture of accountability, professional growth, and operational excellence.
• Promote and sustain a safety-conscious workforce, leading initiatives to improve workplace safety and ensure compliance with all safety protocols.
• Support business planning efforts, including operational goal setting, staffing strategies, and plant expansion projects.
• Gain hands-on leadership experience in preparation for advancement to a Plant Manager role.
• Effectively model and promote the company values through active and positive leadership to the culture across the facility.
• The responsibilities associated with this job will change from time to time in accordance with the Company’s business needs. More specifically, the incumbent may be required to perform additional and/or different responsibilities from those set forth above.
  
  
  

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS (EDUCATION And/or EXPERIENCE)

• Bachelor’s degree (preferably in engineering, business, operations management, or similar field) or equivalent experience required
• 8 years’ experience in manufacturing, preferably food and/or CPG.
• 5-7 years’ of management experience leading cross-functional teams.
• Strong understanding of operations management including modern quality management tools and the ability to drive continuous process improvement through the use of Lean, TPM and Six Sigma tools.
• Must be an effective and creative problem solver, critical thinker and have a strategic thought process.
• Effective communication skills – both written and verbal. Comfortable at all levels of the organization.
• High levels of analytical and financial skills, ability to use data to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities and accurately assess financial impact.
• Strong innovative external focus with proven ability to affect sustainable change.
• Strong influence management and communication skills, ability to gain organizational buy-in.
• Must be effective working in a volatile and complex environment and work with a sense of urgency that drives effective results.
• Ability to develop a deep knowledge of Company’s manufacturing process and products.
• Knowledge and understanding of regulatory requirements including FDA, OSHA, etc.
• Works well in a team environment and ability to lead a team-based approach to decision making.
• Strong proficiency in computer use including Microsoft Suite applications and internal software applications.
  
  
  

Additional Qualifications (job Skills, Abilities, Knowledge)

• Working knowledge of SAP S/4HANA
• Proficient knowledge of Continuous Improvements, Total Productive Maintenance, particularly Autonomous Maintenance
• Developing knowledge of SAP Digital Manufacturing Cloud
• Proficient with RedZone Productivity Suite or similar software
• Proficient with Excel and/or Tableau for dashboard building
• Strong verbal and written communication skills – ability to communicate effectively at all levels of an organization
  
  
  

King's Hawaiian is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for our ohana.