Position Summary:
The Production Supervisor is a key leadership role responsible for overseeing daily production operations within Karlsburger food manufacturing facilities. This role ensures safe, efficient, and compliant production while maintaining product quality, consistency, and throughput. The Production Supervisor leads production employees, supports continuous improvement initiatives, drives accountability, and partners cross-functionally with Quality, Safety, Maintenance, Warehouse, R&D and Leadership teams.
This position plays a key role in maintaining product quality and consistency by ensuring all recipes, programs, and procedures are followed precisely. The Production Supervisor is accountable for employee performance, food safety culture, shift execution, KPIs, CAPA ownership, and supporting new product commercialization and equipment commissioning efforts.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:
- Production & Productivity Leadership.
· Oversee all production activities for the assigned shift to ensure safety, quality, efficiency, and schedule attainment.
· Plan, coordinate, and execute daily production schedules.
· Identify and implement productivity improvements.
· Lead and participate in Kaizen events, A3 problem-solving and continuous improvement initiatives.
· Support Operations Leads and Room Leads with escalation and troubleshooting. And act as secondary escalation support for operations during operational disruptions.
· Monitor production flow, staffing utilization, downtime, and waste reduction through structured improvement efforts.
- Food Safety and Compliance.
· Maintain full accountability for food safety, product quality, and regulatory compliance.
· Participate in internal and external audits and ensure audit readiness.
· Enforce HACCP, SQF, GMPs, SSOPs, and sanitation programs.
· Actively participate in CAPA investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective actions.
· Take preventative measures related to food safety, quality, and equipment risks.
· Serve as Food Safety Practitioner or complete required training to be a point of escalation.
· Actively participate in the plant Safety Committee and facilitate teams’ attendance.
· Champion a strong safety-first culture on the production floor.
· Record, report and investigate safety recordable incidents, near-misses, safety incidents, property damage and implement corrective actions.
· Ensure employees compliance with OSHA and follow all Karlsburger safety policies and procedures.
- Continuous Improvement & Lean Leadership
· Attend CAPA meetings and contribute to root cause analysis.
· Lead CAPA investigations and corrective/preventive actions to closure.
· Maintain accurate documentation and verification of effectiveness.
· Drive systemic improvements to prevent recurrence.
- People Leadership & Performance Management
· Lead, coach, mentor, and develop production employees and Line Leads.
· Conduct performance reviews, coaching conversations, and corrective actions
· Develop career paths and succession planning for production roles.
· Identify and coordinate training and development needs.
· Responsible for hiring, interviewing, discipline, and termination decisions in compliance with company policies and labor laws.
· Ability to fill in for key personnel during absences.
- Shift Execution, Communication & Reporting.
· Lead daily shift huddles and participate in plant-wide meetings.
· Prepare and submit detailed daily shift reports/recaps, including production output, downtime, scrap, safety, and quality updates.
· Monitor and act on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
· Communicate priorities, expectations, and performance results clearly to employees and leadership.
· Lead and assist with production setup and changeover, production preparation and mixing, packaging, labeling and put aways.
· Beginning and End of the shift/day shutdown, securing the building at the end of the shift and disarming.
- Standard Work Instructions (SWI’S) Training &Documentation
· Write, update, track, and continuously improve standard work instructions.
· Ensure SWI’S adherence across all production areas.
· Verify training completion and employee competency, final sign-off.
· Support training development in identifying training gaps, review of SWI’s audit documentation and understanding of employee training records and requirements in LMS software (Paychex).
- New Product Commercialization & Equipment Commissioning.
· Participate in new product development and commercialization meetings.
· Support smooth product transitions and scale-up activities.
· Attend equipment commissioning and startup meetings.
· Partner with Maintenance and Engineering during installations and validations.
Other Duties and Responsibilities:
· Perform additional duties as assigned to support operational, safety, quality, and business needs.
· Support cross-functional projects and initiatives outside of core production responsibilities.
· Provide leadership coverage during emergencies, staffing shortages, or business-critical events. Can act the leader of the day.
· Adapt to changing business priorities, production demands, and organizational needs.
· Support continuous improvement, cost reduction, and efficiency initiatives beyond assigned areas.
· Assist with special projects, audits, customer visits, and regulatory inspections as needed.
· Perform other duties as assigned by Management.
Required Qualifications.
· High School Diploma or equivalent required.
· Minimum 4+ years of experience in manufacturing, food production with supervisory or leadership experience.
· Working knowledge of HACCP, GMPs, SSOPs, and food safety principles.
· Ability to lead teams, make decisions, and hold employees accountable.
· Strong communication skills (verbal and written)
· Ability to read, understand, and follow written procedures, recipes, and instructions
· Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and Learning Management Systems (LMS).
· Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple projects and priorities.
Tools and Technology
· Microsoft Office, Teams and Outlook and other Manufacturing software.
· Document Control Systems.
· Continuous improvement &Lean Tools.
Preferred Qualifications:
· Experience in food manufacturing and familiarity with USDA/FDA/SQF regulatory requirements.
· Bachelor’s degree in food science, Engineering, Operations, or related field preferred.
· HACCP Certification
· Experience with mixers, steam kettles, stuffers, forklifts, and related equipment.
· Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.
Physical Requirements:
· Exposure to wet and varied temperature environments (dry warehouse, cooler, freezer).
· Must be able to bend, stoop, reach, push/pull carts, and climb stairs throughout the shift.
· Sitting, Standing and walking are required for most of the shift.
· Must be able to lift 55 lbs.
· Frequent movement between warehouses, pre-production and production areas.
· Use of PPE is mandatory in certain zones (hairnets, gloves, safety footwear, etc.)
· Operate material handling equipment safely and efficiently.
· The ability to occasionally work flexible hours to support all shifts and conduct hands-on training.
Pay: $65,000.00 - $78,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
