Plant Manager

Agri-Mark Background

The Northeast’s Premier Dairy Farm Cooperative

Working together, farmers can and do make a difference. Agri-Mark’s rich tradition as a cooperative date back to 1916 with the formation of its predecessor, the New England Milk Producers Association. The cooperative flourished during the twentieth century and in 1980 became Agri-Mark. A dozen years later, Agri-Mark acquired Cabot Creamery Cooperative, thereby ensuring that Northeast dairy farmers would continue their ownership of a valuable, time-honored consumer brand – Cabot. Naturally aged Vermont cheddar cheese and fresh creamery butter top the list of Cabot’s best-known products. In 2003, Agri-Mark acquired the Chateaugay Cooperative in Upstate New York along with the McCadam Cheese brand. Agri-Mark was the first Dairy Cooperative to receive B-Corp certification in 2012.

Agri-mark farmers take pride in their Cabot and McCadam products and have the toughest milk quality standards on the market. If you enjoy healthy, delicious, award-winning dairy products, you can count on the pride of our farmers and our employees as vital ingredients in everything we make.

Agri-mark is a Dairy Farmer Cooperative that Markets it Members’ Milk in Many Innovative Ways.

The Agri-Mark dairy cooperative is the largest supplier of farm fresh milk in New England, marketing more than 3.2 billion lbs. of fresh farm milk each year for more than 600 of the region’s dairy farm families. Agri-Mark serves members whose farms are in all six New England states and New York State.

The cooperative employees take our farmers’ high-quality milk and create award-winning Cabot and McCadam products such as New York and Vermont Cheddar Cheese, European-style cheeses, cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, and yogurt. Agri-Mark also markets milk to dairy product dealers throughout the eastern United States.

The cooperative owns and operates four dairy plants: two in Vermont, one in Massachusetts, and one in New York. The cooperative also owns and operates a cut and wrap facility and distribution center in Vermont. In addition, to Cabot’s and McCadam’s branded products, Agri-Mark also manufactures condensed blends for ice cream and bakery items, as well as bulk cheese, butter, non-fat milk powder, and whey products for a variety of food service and ingredient uses.

The Middlebury facility specifically manufactures award-winning cheddar cheese and whey powders.

For more information, please go to www.agrimark.coop and www.cabotcheese.coop.

Key duties for this position:

The Plant Manager will have direct responsibility for operation functions in support of safe production, quality and financial goals, will effectively interface with other departments and functions of the organization, and support senior leadership in meeting corporate goals.

• Overall responsibility for all plant operations including coordination between departments to ensure that all production, maintenance, safety, quality and sanitation goals are met.
• Direct the overall manufacturing activities in the plant to ensure that customer orders are received, scheduled, produced and shipped in the most efficient manner to meet customer requirements, while maintaining defined quality standards.
• Ensure the highest standards of quality, product safety and employee safety are maintained at all times in the facility.
• Implement plant safety programs and ensure compliance with Agri-Mark and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain the facility in an audit-ready state for customers and regulatory agencies and responsible for all corporate, customer and government audits to ensure compliance.
• Responsible for the Plant SQF & Food Security Policy / Program to assess potential food security risks. Ensure that food security preventive measures are being implemented and routinely audited regarding the manufacturing, handling and storage of all food ingredients, as well as finished goods.
• Responsible for environmental health compliance at the plant level.
• Maintain an effective network of communication to ensure all departments are kept current with strategic and operational goals for the company.
• Analyze plant operations to ensure that the facility maintains a leadership position in the industry that takes advantage of new processes and technologies that become available.
• Work with departmental leaders to build trust, influence and lead change that will improve individual, team and business performance.
• Partner with Human Resources on employee relations, talent management, leader development/coaching, company policy, salary administration and talent acquisition.
• Responsible for fiscal operations of the plant including full ownership of P&L and capital budgets and results.
• Provide reliable and accurate information and support to the finance team to help ensure that end-of-month, quarterly and fiscal year closing schedules are met.
• Champion and oversee the plant's continuous improvement journey.
• Encourage a continuous learning environment for departmental leaders by staying current with the latest technologies and processes in the industry.
• Ensure that appropriate standard operating procedures (SOP’s) and employee training are developed and maintained for all aspects of the business.

• Collaborate with other plant managers within Agri-Mark to share best practices.
• Ensure compliance with all Agri-Mark corporate policies and procedures.
• Strong executor with the ability to assist with strategy development at all levels of the organization to drive business performance.
• Excellent verbal / written communication skills.

• Ability to adapt to changing organizational and operational needs, and the ability to lead people through change.
• Ability to work collaboratively with all departments, with various management levels within the company, and with external stakeholders.
• Ability to successfully and positively influence peers and senior leadership.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Relocation assistance
• Retirement plan
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday
• On call
• Weekend availability

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Middlebury, VT 05753: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Preferred)

Application Question(s):

• What is your rate of pay/salary expectation, if selected?

Experience:

• leading a Manufacturing facility: 2 years (Preferred)

Work Location: One location