What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, Manufacturing position at USPL NUTRITIONALS LLC?
Job Description
Date
02/2025
Location
1300 Airport Rd North Brunswick NJ 08902
Title
Director, Manufacturing
Department
Operations
Reports to
Vice President, Operations
FLSA (Exempt or Non-Exempt
Exempt
Role Overview
The Manufacturing Director is oversees all aspects of a company's manufacturing operations, leading teams to ensure efficient production of high-quality products while meeting deadlines and budget constraints, by developing and implementing manufacturing strategies, optimizing processes, managing quality control, and collaborating with other departments to achieve business goals; key responsibilities include production planning, staff management, cost control, continuous improvement initiatives, and ensuring compliance with safety and quality standards.
Areas of Responsibility
Manufacturing
- Strategic Leadership: Develop and execute comprehensive manufacturing strategies that align with overall company goals and vision. Oversee the creation and implementation of both short- and long-term production objectives, ensuring scalability and sustainability in operations. Drive continuous improvement initiatives, optimizing manufacturing processes to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and elevate product quality.
- Operations Management: Direct the daily operations of the manufacturing plant, ensuring smooth and efficient processes that support on-time product delivery. Manage production schedules, ensuring that adequate resources (raw materials, machinery, labor) are available to meet production deadlines and targets. Monitor and optimize resource utilization, ensuring efficient use of materials, equipment, and workforce to achieve production goals while maintaining cost effectiveness.
- Team Leadership and Development: Provide strong leadership and mentorship to a diverse team of managers and staff across various departments, including production, quality control, and maintenance. Set clear performance expectations, conduct regular feedback sessions, and provide coaching to drive team productivity and professional growth. Foster a collaborative, innovative, and safety-focused culture within the manufacturing environment, empowering teams to achieve their best performance.
- Safety and Compliance: Ensure a safe and compliant working environment by adhering to all federal, state, and local regulations, as well as internal company policies. Oversee the implementation of health and safety programs, conducting regular audits, inspections, and training to maintain a high standard of workplace safety. Proactively address safety concerns and enforce policies that prioritize the well-being of all employees.
- Cost Management: Monitor the manufacturing budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources. Develop cost-reduction strategies to improve profitability without sacrificing quality or safety. Analyze production costs and recommend improvements to reduce waste and increase profitability.
- Collaboration and Communication: Collaborate with senior leadership, engineering, supply chain, and other departments to ensure alignment of production goals with company priorities. Clearly communicate key performance indicators (KPIs) and production results to executive leadership, providing insights and updates on performance against targets.
- Continuous Improvement & Process Optimization: Identify areas of inefficiency within manufacturing processes and lead the development of strategic improvement plans to optimize productivity, reduce waste, and enhance quality. Drive the integration of new technologies, processes, or equipment that enhance operational performance and increase manufacturing capacity. Partner with engineering and production teams to ensure the successful implementation of continuous improvement initiatives, tracking progress and adjusting strategies as needed to maintain excellence in production performance.
Quality
- Deviation Investigations: Lead thorough investigations into deviations related to batch records, ensuring root causes are identified and corrective actions are implemented to prevent recurrence. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve deviations promptly and efficiently, ensuring minimal impact on production timelines.
- GMP Compliance: Ensure strict adherence to Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) by overseeing gowning, hygiene, and other critical processes to maintain product integrity. Drive continuous improvement in cGMP compliance, fostering a culture of quality and safety across all manufacturing operations..
- Procedure Adherence: Ensure batch records, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and cGMP guidelines are followed rigorously to meet product specifications, tolerances, and quality standards. Lead initiatives to enhance procedural accuracy and efficiency, reducing errors and optimizing production processes.
- Policy and Procedure Compliance: Ensure unwavering compliance with company policies, procedures, cGMP guidelines, Ethical Business Practices, and SOPs always across all levels of manufacturing operations. Implement and monitor adherence to regulatory and internal standards, making improvements where necessary to enhance operational integrity.
- Documentation: Oversee the completion and accuracy of operation logs, batch records, and other critical documentation, ensuring they are signed, fully completed, and comply with both company standards and regulatory requirements. Continuously audit documentation practices to ensure traceability, accuracy, and compliance with all relevant regulations.
- Quality Standards: Ensure that all products meet applicable quality standards throughout the manufacturing process, including performing inspections during operations and overseeing the required sampling and testing. Work closely with the quality assurance team to ensure that production processes are aligned with product specifications and regulatory requirements.
People
- Talent Management: Lead the recruitment, training, development, and retention of manufacturing personnel to ensure a highly skilled workforce that drives performance and contributes to organizational goals.
- Foster Collaboration: Create a work environment that values and respects diverse backgrounds and perspectives, ensuring a culture of inclusiveness. Promote collaboration among team members and across departments to achieve organizational goals.
- Effective Communication: Establish and maintain strong, clear communication channels with peers, team members, and senior managers to ensure alignment and effective decision-making. Provide timely updates to executive management regarding team performance, progress, and potential challenges.
- Provide Direction: Set clear goals, expectations, and responsibilities for direct reports to ensure alignment with organizational objectives. Offer guidance and support to ensure the team remains focused on delivering high-quality results.
- Goal Setting: Align departmental and team objectives with the broader organizational goals, creating actionable plans with clear milestones. Track progress towards goals, ensuring regular updates, and making necessary adjustments to achieve success.
- Employee Development: Invest in employee growth by providing development opportunities that enhance skills and prepare them for future leadership roles. Mentor and coach team members to maximize their potential and contribute to the success of the operation.
- Communication Management: Maintain open and transparent communication channels with employees, peers, and management to ensure effective coordination and support. Address any concerns or feedback to improve team morale and productivity.
- Production Efficiency: Oversee the efficient, timely, and accurate completion of production processes, ensuring targets are met without compromising quality. Continuously review operations and recommend improvements to enhance overall efficiency.
- Cross-functional Support: Gain a deep understanding of specific manufacturing operations to provide support in other areas as needed. Collaborate with other departments to ensure seamless operations and address any challenges that arise.
- Performance Evaluation: Conduct regular performance evaluations to assess employee progress and identify areas for improvement. Create and implement corrective action plans for underperforming team members, ensuring consistency and fairness.
- Personnel Decisions: Assist in key personnel decisions including hiring, terminations, promotions, attendance management, and wage decisions. Ensure that staffing decisions align with organizational objectives and foster a productive work environment.
- Policy Interpretation: Ensure that company policies are consistently applied and clearly communicated to employees. Address policy-related questions and resolve any disputes, ensuring fair and consistent application across the team.
- Identify Strengths and Weaknesses: Conduct assessments of team members to identify their strengths and areas for development. Assign tasks and responsibilities that align with individual strengths to optimize team performance.
Other Responsibilities Including Safety
- Safety and Responsibility: Work safely and responsibly to create an injury-free and incident-free workplace.
- Training Compliance: Comply with all job-related safety and other training requirements.
- Communication with Management: Keep management informed of area activities and significant problems.
- Extended Hours: Work extended hours and occasional weekend overtime as required.
- Other Duties: Perform other duties as assigned.
Requirements
Education & Qualification:
- BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering or Degree in Pharmacy, Science, or Chemistry
- 10 years Supervisory experience in a manufacturing environment
- 8-10 years related experience
- Minimum of six (6) years’ work experience in nutritionals, supplements, food, or pharmaceutical manufacturing industries.
- CPE (Certified Plant Engineer), CPMM (Certified Maintenance Manager), OSHA 501 training, etc. Either of the preferred.
Skills & Ability
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to interact with teams at all levels.
- Excellent Leadership, organizational, problem-solving skills and team management for operations.
- Troubleshooting and problem-solving for both production and maintenance challenges.
- Familiarity with probiotics, manufacturing processes and equipment.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to quality and compliance.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
- Ability to mentor and develop team members.
Physical Requirements (Lifting, etc.):
- Ability to navigate office, lab, and plant floor working environments.
- Ability to sit and work at a computer for up to 8 hours a day and perform tasks that require close vision.
- Must be able to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety glasses, hairnets, lab coats, gloves, and safety shoes when required.
Work Environment (Office, Warehouse, temperature extremes, etc.):
- Work is regularly performed inside a manufacturing environment where temperatures can be moderate, exposure to dust, odors, noise, and fumes. The noise level is usually moderate. Employee can be exposed daily to chemicals and cleaning agents.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the job responsibilities, duties, skill, or working conditions. In addition, this document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at will" relationship.
