Process Technology Manager

Company: Russell Stover Chocolates
Location: Kansas City
Posted on: September 21, 2023

Job Description:

At Russell Stover, not only do we love chocolate, but we love our jobs! Every day we go to work exhibiting our values of excellence, innovation, entrepreneurship, responsibility, and collaboration. Working at Russell Stover you'll be part of the leading manufacturer of boxed, seasonal, and sugar-free chocolates. For over 100 years, Russell Stover Chocolates, Whitman's, and Pangburn's have been crafted with the finest ingredients to bring happiness to generations. Today, we produce over 55 million pounds of chocolate annually, and our legacy brands can be found in 13 company-owned stores and over 9,000 wholesale accounts. Join our team and let's continue making chocolate lovers happy!-- A day in the life---As the Process Technology Manager, you will be the key contact and subject matter expert for the technological/food process-related aspects in Russell Stover's three-plant operation. In this role, you will be responsible for technological plant support as well as the industrialization process for new or renovated product and packaging to ensure manufacturing readiness. You will lead complex, multi-disciplinary projects from start to finish - collaborating with key stakeholders to plan requirements, manage project schedules, identify risks, and communicate with cross-functional partners across the company.What you will be doing-----Leadership Coordinate activities of Product and Process engineers in each plant to align with company priorities Lead the education on technical/ process aspects to maximize line efficiencies and autonomous maintenance of production lines Network with peers across the Lindt subsidiaries to enhance/ transfer knowledge.Project Management Plan and execute operations development activities and ensure transition to production within cost, quality, and capacity parameters. Pursues all cost-saving opportunities to maximize project profitability. Develops project test plans, schedules, and budgets for new and changing products or packaging. Conducts weekly cross-functional meetings. Consolidates, and presents plans and progress reports relating to business aspects of the project(s). Propose changes to current processes or timelines after soliciting expert input.Product and Packaging Process Lead industrialization process through collaboration with Marketing, Operations, R&D, and Packaging Engineers to create critical path analysis, preparing and implementing work-around plans to ensure the successful completion of projects. Ensures trial and test results are properly communicated to the appropriate teams and documents learnings/procedures for production ramp. Ability to understand and drive the manufacturing process in order to maximize trial results/ ramp-up. Capture project goals from cross-functional teams of Operations, Design, Marketing, and Engineering. Liaises between manufacturing facilities and project teams to ensure materials are obtained and trials are scheduled and executed Leads the on-site team at the manufacturing facilities to confirm all operation-focused project delivery, quality, and cost metrics are met through the development cycle Monitors and assesses project issues and develops resolutions to meet productivity, quality, and customer-satisfaction goals and objectives.Do you have what it takes?-- (Basic Qualifications)
Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, food science, operations, logistics, or equivalent experience. Five (5) years or more experience in Engineering and Manufacturing in a new product introduction (NPI) role Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook)Do you stand above the rest?-- (Preferred Qualifications)
Two (2) years or more experience in the Confectionery industry strongly preferred MBA or advanced technical education Project Management/Leadership experience in leading and executing NPI projects (for manufacturing and supply chain scale-up activities) Ability to manage multiple projects from conception to final stages Experience in Smartsheet or related project management and timeline tools Experience with SAP or an integrated system Strong communication, presentation, and facilitation skills required to all levels of management
Demonstrated organizational and analytical abilitiesOther RequirementsTravel up to 40%Ability to spend 60-70% of time standing or walking around in the plant.--At Russell Stover Chocolates, we don't just accept difference - we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products, and our community. Russell Stover Chocolates is proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, protected medical condition, genetic information, military service, veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law. Employment by Russell Stover Chocolates is contingent upon I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification, passing the urinalysis drug screen, education verification, and satisfactory reference and background checks.Make Happy. Work Happy.--

Keywords: Russell Stover Chocolates, Kansas City , Process Technology Manager, Executive , Kansas City, Kansas