Production Supervisor
Job Description
Production Supervisor
Industry: Food & Beverage Manufacturing | Agricultural Processing | Industrial Manufacturing
We're seeking experienced, hands-on Production Supervisors, Manufacturing Supervisors, Shift Supervisors, and Production Team Leads to support food and beverage manufacturing, agricultural processing, food ingredient production, packaging, and other industrial manufacturing operations.
This is an excellent opportunity for production professionals who enjoy leading teams, solving operational challenges, improving production efficiency, and maintaining safe, high-performing manufacturing environments.
Ideal candidates bring experience supervising production teams, coordinating daily operations, troubleshooting equipment, and driving improvements in safety, quality, productivity, and operational performance.
Whether your background is in food processing, beverage manufacturing, agriculture, ethanol, chemical processing, packaging, or general industrial manufacturing, we'd love to connect!
We're especially interested in leaders who combine hands-on manufacturing experience with employee supervision, production scheduling, equipment troubleshooting, quality control, continuous improvement, and strong safety practices.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
- Production Leadership: Supervise, train, coach, and develop production operators, machine operators, technicians, and other manufacturing personnel.
- Daily Operations: Oversee production activities to ensure safety, quality, efficiency, and operational targets are consistently achieved.
- Production Scheduling: Coordinate staffing, workflow, equipment utilization, material availability, and daily production priorities.
- Equipment & Troubleshooting: Monitor manufacturing equipment, identify operational issues, and coordinate troubleshooting and repairs with Maintenance.
- Performance Management: Track production output, downtime, labor efficiency, waste, yield, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Quality Assurance: Ensure products meet established quality standards, specifications, and applicable regulatory requirements.
- Safety & Compliance: Enforce workplace safety procedures, personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements, Lockout/Tagout (LOTO), and applicable OSHA standards.
- Food Safety & GMP: Support Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), sanitation procedures, food safety requirements, and quality management processes.
- Employee Development: Provide training, performance feedback, coaching, and accountability to strengthen team performance.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Maintenance, Quality, Engineering, Warehouse, Sanitation, and plant leadership to resolve operational challenges.
- Documentation & Reporting: Maintain accurate production reports, shift handoffs, downtime records, staffing information, and operational documentation.
- Shift Management: Ensure smooth shift transitions, communicate production priorities, and address staffing or equipment issues.
We're particularly interested in candidates with leadership experience in one or more of the following areas:
- High-volume manufacturing and production operations
- Production scheduling and workforce management
- Employee supervision, training, and performance management
- Industrial equipment troubleshooting
- Automated production and packaging systems
- Preventive maintenance coordination
- Continuous improvement, Lean Manufacturing, or Six Sigma
- Production efficiency, throughput, and downtime reduction
- Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC)
- Food safety, GMP, and sanitation compliance
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- Forklift and material-handling operations
- Inventory management and raw material coordination
- Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) monitored equipment
- Root cause analysis and corrective actions
- Manufacturing performance metrics and production reporting
- Workplace safety, LOTO, and OSHA compliance
Experience supervising operations involving any of the following equipment may be valuable:
- Automated production and packaging lines
- Conveyors, sorters, and palletizers
- Pumps, motors, and industrial machinery
- Mixers, blenders, dryers, and processing systems
- Computer-controlled manufacturing equipment
- HMI and PLC-monitored production systems
- CNC machinery and automated fabrication equipment
- Material-handling equipment and forklifts
- Tanks, valves, piping, and processing equipment
- Compressors and industrial utility systems
- Industrial food-processing equipment
- Mechanical assembly and fabrication equipment
Qualifications & Experience
- Previous experience in manufacturing, production, processing, or industrial operations.
- Prior supervisory, team leadership, or production lead experience preferred.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing workflows, production equipment, and operational performance.
- Demonstrated ability to lead employees, coordinate daily activities, and achieve production targets.
- Mechanical aptitude and ability to recognize equipment or process abnormalities.
- Familiarity with production scheduling, quality control, safety procedures, and operational reporting.
- Experience with continuous improvement initiatives and process optimization is a plus.
- Strong communication, problem-solving, organizational, and decision-making skills.
- Ability to work effectively with cross-functional manufacturing teams.
- Basic computer proficiency and familiarity with manufacturing or production management systems.
- Flexibility to work varying shifts, weekends, holidays, or overtime based on operational needs.
Education
- High school diploma or GED preferred.
- Additional technical training, manufacturing certifications, or an associate's or bachelor's degree in a related field is beneficial but not required.
- Equivalent combinations of hands-on manufacturing experience and demonstrated leadership ability will be considered.
Ideal Candidate
The strongest candidates are hands-on production leaders who understand manufacturing operations from the floor up.
They know how to motivate employees, troubleshoot production challenges, coordinate resources, maintain safety and quality standards, and consistently meet operational goals.
We value leaders who are approachable, accountable, mechanically inclined, and comfortable working directly alongside their teams when needed.
Whether you're an established Production Supervisor or an experienced Production Lead ready to take the next step into leadership, we'd love to learn more about your background and career goals.
Equal Opportunity Employer
We are an equal opportunity employer and consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
Employment may be subject to applicable background screening and drug-testing requirements.