Location: Cortland, NY
Compensation: $65,000-$75,000
About Us
Farmer Group began as a small vegetable farm in Upstate NY and is now a leader in the NYS cannabis industry, producing premium products under brands like Florist Farms and Head & Heal. Our roots in regenerative farming and commitment to community and sustainability remain central to everything we do.
Why Join Us?
- Competitive salary and benefits (health insurance, 401(k), PTO)
- Free farm-fresh vegetables, gym membership, and CBD product discounts
- Opportunity to drive growth in a rapidly expanding industry
The Role
The Production Infrastructure Manager owns all critical systems, infrastructure, automation, and production equipment required to run manufacturing safely, efficiently, and without interruption, with accountability for reliability, performance, and continuous improvement.
This role exists to enable production to hit schedule, quality, and efficiency targets by eliminating equipment-related constraints, reducing downtime, and scaling automation safely and compliantly.
The manager provides LMA (Leadership, Management, and Accountability) to manufacturing infrastructure staff (sanitation, technicians) and cross-functional technical teams.
Reporting to the VP of Operations, this role is a critical execution partner ensuring production plans are supported by reliable machines, robust maintenance systems, and infrastructure that can scale with demand.
Key Responsibilities
Core charter: keep manufacturing operating smoothly, safely, and efficiently
- Partner with Production Director/Scheduler and production leaders to ensure daily operational readiness, proactively identify constraints, and escalate schedule risks.
- Support Formulation and Flower Production Managers in solving technical issues, equipment downtime, or material readiness challenges.
- Lead and develop maintenance, sanitation, and technical support resources
- Prioritize work requests based on production impact and schedule risk
- Support Operations Training initiatives related to equipment and infrastructure
- Manage infrastructure calendars and schedules in alignment with the Master Production Schedule
- Create and maintain accurate infrastructure process SOPs (standard operating procedures) and ensure adherence by all staff
- Daily supervision of infrastructure staff: time clock, breaks, time-off, attendance, performance coaching and reviews, disciplinary action, and HR documentation
- Hiring and termination responsibility in accordance with all company policies and procedures and with review/approval of the Vice President of Operations.
Infrastructure, Facilities & Equipment Readiness
- Oversee maintenance of all production equipment, automation assets, and tools.
- Develop and run preventive maintenance programs to minimize downtime.
- Design, implement, and continuously improve a preventive maintenance (PM) program across all production assets
- Establish maintenance schedules, inspections, and service intervals aligned to production risk
- Track maintenance history, failure trends, and corrective actions
- Reduce unplanned downtime through root cause analysis and proactive improvements
- Maintain a critical spare parts strategy to minimize production interruptions
- Partner with VP of Operations and Production Director on capital improvement planning, vendor coordination, and equipment commissioning.
- Maintain production floor readiness, utilities, and critical infrastructure for manufacturing operations.
- Ensure accurate execution records for repairs, PMs, calibrations, and equipment changeovers.
- Oversight of dish pit/sanitation staff & workflows (ensuring tools and equipment are available and clean)
- Own manufacturing infrastructure systems that directly impact production (utilities, compressed air, equipment-related HVAC, environmental controls, air scrubbers, dehumidifiers, safety systems)
- Coordinate internal and external resources for repairs, upgrades, and capital projects and collaborate with internal facilities teams.
- Ensure infrastructure supports throughput, safety, and compliance requirements
- Own the end-to-end installation, commissioning, and operationalization of new production equipment and automation assets
- Lead equipment installation planning, including site readiness, utilities, safety reviews, vendor coordination, and production impact planning
- Ensure new equipment is fully integrated into production workflows, schedules, SOPs, training, and maintenance systems, partnering with Production, QA, Facilities through install, pilot, and steady-state production.
- Establish clear acceptance criteria and sign-off before equipment is released to production
Manufacturing Automation & Equipment Reliability
- Own uptime, availability, and performance of all production equipment and automated systems
- Troubleshoot and resolve mechanical, electrical, and automation issues with urgency and discipline
- Partner with the Production Director/Scheduler to align equipment capability with production schedules
- Use data to prioritize maintenance, upgrades, and automation initiatives
- Define, track, and report equipment performance metrics (uptime, downtime causes, MTBF, MTTR) and infrastructure risk to Operations leadership.
- Support and execute the company’s manufacturing automation strategy in partnership with the VP of Operations and Production Director
- Evaluate automation opportunities that improve throughput, consistency, labor efficiency, and quality
- Lead hands-on testing, pilot runs, and validation of automated and semi-automated equipment prior to scale
- Identify failure modes, constraints, and operational risks during testing and recommend design or process changes
- Translate automation investments into documented, repeatable production capabilities
- Participate in equipment sourcing, vendor evaluation, and ROI analysis for capital investments
- Provide operational input on equipment selection, cost-benefit analysis, throughput modeling, and labor impact assessments based on maintainability, scalability, and production fit
Safety, Quality & Compliance Support
- Implement and maintain safety initiatives, audits, and training in collaboration with QA.
- Ensure proper PPE, sanitation processes, and hazard mitigation across production areas.
- Support internal and external audits for compliance (NY OCM, QA, METRC).
- Maintain emergency response and safety equipment readiness.
- Partner with QA/Safety Shared Services to ensure equipment and infrastructure meet regulatory, safety, and quality standards
- Support equipment validation, calibration, and maintenance documentation
- Ensure maintenance activities do not compromise product quality, data integrity, or compliance
- Participate in audits, inspections, and corrective actions related to infrastructure or equipment
Documentation, Training & Knowledge Transfer
- Create and maintain SOPs, work instructions, and preventive maintenance documentation
- Serve as the internal technical subject matter expert for manufacturing equipment and automation, reducing dependency on vendors through strong internal documentation and knowledge transfer.
- Develop and maintain start-up, shutdown, changeover, and troubleshooting SOPs for all new equipment
- Ensure operators and leads are trained and certified prior to equipment release
- Train operators, leads, and technicians on proper equipment use, basic troubleshooting, and safety
- Create standardized equipment handoff documentation from install → production → maintenance
*The company reserves the right to add or change duties at any time.
Qualifications
- 5+ years experience in manufacturing maintenance, automation, or industrial operations
- Hands-on experience with automated manufacturing equipment (packaging, filling, labeling, capping, conveying, etc.)
- Strong mechanical, electrical, and troubleshooting skills
- Experience building or managing preventive maintenance programs
- Working knowledge of PLCs, sensors, motors, conveyors, and industrial controls
- Experience in regulated manufacturing environments (GMP, food, pharma, cannabis, or similar)
- Execution-focused problem solver who thrives in a production environment
- Strong prioritization and decision-making skills under time pressure
- Able to translate technical issues into clear production impacts
- Comfortable partnering tightly with Production leadership
- Bias toward reliability, accountability, and continuous improvement
- Experience scaling manufacturing operations through automation
- CMMS experience preferred
- OSHA or industrial safety training
- Experience supporting audits and regulatory inspections
Our Values
We believe in innovation, sustainability, integrity, and making a positive impact. Join our fast-moving team of thinkers and doers dedicated to shaping the future of cannabis in NYS.
How to Apply
Submit your application by 7/25/26
Equal Opportunity Employer
We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone thrives.
Pay: $65,000.00 - $75,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
