Sr. Director Food Manufacturing

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Reporting to the Vice President of Food Manufacturing, the Senior Director of Food Manufacturing will oversee the operations of a multi-site network of owned and operated Whole Foods Market manufacturing facilities across multiple US regions. This leader will be responsible for developing and executing regional strategies and plans for manufacturing, supply chain management, manufacturing digitalization transformation, environmental health and safety (EH&S), Product Total Quality Management, and Continuous Improvement. The Senior Director also leads operational excellence, production innovation, product craft at scale, assembly, and packaging, inbound and outbound strategies, and builds strong partnerships with key stakeholders. This role is responsible for ensuring that all manufacturing facilities meet Whole Foods Market's high standards for safety, quality, and efficiency.

Responsibilities:

• Lead operational excellence, production innovation, product craft at scale, assembly, and packaging, inbound and outbound strategies.
• The ideal candidate for this role will have a proven track record of success in a leadership role in the food manufacturing industry.
• Develop and execute regional strategies and plans for manufacturing, supply chain management, manufacturing digitalization transformation, environmental health, and safety, product total quality management, and continuous improvement.
• The Sr. Director must have a strong understanding of manufacturing operations, supply chain management, and environmental health and safety.
• Build strong partnerships with key stakeholders, including but not limited to employees, customers, suppliers, and regulators.
• Ensure that all manufacturing facilities meet Whole Foods Market's high standards for safety, quality, and efficiency.

Food Safety and EH&S:

• Accountable for improved safety and regulatory compliance attributed to leveraging and best practice execution.
• Partners with Global Quality Assurance teams to review food safety reports and take appropriate action.
• Supervises recall processes compliance and acts as the main point of contact.
• Responsible for overseeing, providing leadership and direction to the area of regulatory compliance, in close collaboration with WFM Global Asset Protection Teams. Ensures appropriate education and training is provided to ensure understanding of requirements and regulatory changes.

Team Member (Talent) Hiring and Development:

• Develops training programs in partnership with the Learning and Development team.
• Ensures the continued training and development of manufacturing and operations team members.
• Participates in Team Member recruitment and selection hiring processes.
• Acts as a mentoring resource in developing the manufacturing and operations management base within the facilities.

Financial Performance of the Facilities:

• Provides feedback to regional facilities and Global Finance business partners regarding resources and assists with development plans, projects, and annual budgets.
• Drives value creation (e.g., revenue increase and cost reduction) to ensure financial prudence and achieve the highest level of profitability.

Operational, Manufacturing Excellence (inclusive of quality management and quality assurance areas.)

• Responsible for bringing a cohesive approach and creating a culture in the regional facilities based on operational excellence.
• Leads the continuous improvement efforts to address quality, processing, and safety issues by creating and managing an operational excellence program, metrics, and initiatives.
• Develops labor models for efficiency without sacrificing quality.
• Directs manufacturing and operations management in the facilities in sharing and driving the adoption of best practices. Implements venues and systems for best practice information dissemination and deployment.

Manufacturing Innovation, Equipment Automation, and Digitalization Transformation:

• Responsible for being the change agent in manufacturing systems and digitalization. Tasked in guiding/assisting business partners in business case(s) development and influencing company leadership regarding value proposition, timing, and investment.
• Provides digitalization expertise to the facilities. Assists manufacturing sites in finding value through digitalization. Where feasible, drives consistency and standardization in the use of digital tools, processes, and systems across manufacturing locations.
• Champions the processing and packaging methodologies with sustainable solutions to extend product shelf life to manage waste and costs.
• Leads in the area of fresh food production with the goal to enhance existing processing technologies and research new processing technologies to increase productivity and creation of new products.

Partnership and Support of Other Stakeholders:

• Responsible for developing and executing facilities strategies and plans in each functional area noted above that supports WFM businesses. This includes ensuring strategies, plans, and objectives are fully aligned and supported by WFM business leaders.
• Works closely with functional counterparts from WFM in GQA, Food Safety, EH&S, Product Development, Procurement, etc., to ensure facilities strategies are aligned and support overall WFM business initiatives.

Qualifications:

• Specific skillset and min 5+ years hands-on experience in digital transformation of manufacturing processes i.e., ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems.
• Executive level experience (a minimum of 10+ years of experience) in managing multi-site food manufacturing operations with a proven track record of driving continuous improvement and achieving operational excellence.
• 5+ years of experience working within a Food R&D and Commercialization role/team.
• Deep knowledge and experience with large-volume fresh food manufacturing formulations and the quality implications when producing at scale.
• International operations experience is a plus.
• Broad food manufacturing process and system knowledge.
• Experience in both discrete and continuous manufacturing processes.
• BS in industrial engineering and operation required, and MS in industrial engineering and/or MBA strongly preferred.
• Job Location: Austin, TX based. Downtown office address: 501 Bowie, Austin, TX, 78703.
• Broad manufacturing and operational experience and expertise across multiple food processing.
• Extensive knowledge of lean manufacturing, six sigma, and other continuous improvement methodologies.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in working in a corporate matrix organization.
• Strong leadership skills, with experience managing and mentoring a team of leaders with various levels of management experience.
• Relevant and periodic travel up to 65% to manufacturing locations is required.
• Food manufacturing, CPG or equivalent i.e., airline catering environments that can be leveraged.