The Position: The
Plant Director is the senior leader for King Arthur Baking's Merlin manufacturing facility and is accountable for the site's overall performance, including safety, food safety, quality, service, cost, people, culture, asset reliability, sustainability, and continuous improvement.
This leader develops the plant leadership team, builds organizational capability, and establishes the operating discipline needed to deliver the annual business plan and advance King Arthur's long-range strategy. Working in close partnership with enterprise functions, the Director balances business requirements with King Arthur's mission, values, employee-ownership culture, and commitments to People, Planet, and Profit.
The Benefits: Yes, we have the standard "stuff" - medical, dental, vision, company paid short- and long-term disability, life insurance, paid parental leave, paid time off to rest, paid holidays to have fun, a 401(k) with a company match.
But here's what makes us different: 40 paid volunteer hours a year, profit sharing*, participation in the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)* and knowing that those working with you are dedicated and engaged co-employee owners that believe in you and your extraordinary abilities to move us all forward.
The Location: White River Junction, VT; onsite daily.
The Pay: $153,000 to $180,000 annual salary; commensurate with experience.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities People, Culture, and Leadership
- Provide visible, values-based leadership across the facility, creating clarity, accountability, trust, inclusion, and shared ownership for plant performance.
- Lead and develop the plant leadership team and strengthen leadership capability, succession, workforce planning, employee engagement, and organizational effectiveness across all shifts.
- Foster effective two-way communication and an environment in which employee-owners understand priorities, contribute ideas, raise concerns, and connect their work to company results.
Safety, Food Safety, Quality, and Compliance - Hold overall site accountability for employee safety, food safety, product quality, environmental performance, and regulatory compliance.
- Ensure effective systems, controls, training, audits, and corrective actions are in place to meet company standards and applicable requirements.
- Lead the site's response to significant safety, quality, regulatory, or business continuity events and ensure risks and root causes are addressed.
Operational and Financial Performance
- Own delivery of the plant operating plan and performance commitments across safety, quality, service, cost, people, reliability, and sustainability.
- Lead plant financial performance, resource planning, production execution, and management of controllable manufacturing costs.
- Establish disciplined performance-management practices that make results and risks visible, clarify ownership, and drive timely corrective action.
Operational Excellence, Assets, and Technology
- Ensure the reliability, effective use, and responsible stewardship of the facility, equipment, capital investments, manufacturing processes, and technology.
- Lead continuous improvement that strengthens problem solving, productivity, capacity, quality, and operational resilience.
- Ensure manufacturing systems, data, and digital tools are effectively adopted and used to support sound decisions and sustainable performance.
Strategy, Risk, and Enterprise Leadership
- Translate company strategy into clear site priorities, plans, measures, investments, and accountabilities.
- Lead site-level risk management, contingency planning, crisis readiness, and long-range planning for capacity, capital, technology, and workforce capability.
- Partner across functions to resolve systemic issues, evaluate growth opportunities, and advance enterprise priorities while representing the facility effectively with external stakeholders.
Experience and Education - Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, operations management, food science, supply chain, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- Significant progressive leadership experience in food or consumer packaged goods manufacturing, including accountability for complex plant operations and cross-functional teams.
- Demonstrated success improving safety, quality, service, cost, reliability, and organizational capability.
- Strong knowledge of food manufacturing operations, equipment, maintenance, continuous improvement, financial management, and applicable regulatory requirements.
- Experience with enterprise manufacturing systems, digital manufacturing tools, and operational analytics is preferred.
Competencies - Values-Based People Leadership: Builds and develops an effective leadership team and creates clarity, trust, inclusion, accountability, and shared ownership. Models King Arthur Baking's values, employee-ownership culture, and commitments to People, Planet, and Profit.
- Enterprise and Strategic Leadership: Translates company strategy into clear plant priorities, plans, investments, and accountabilities. Balances immediate operational needs with long-term workforce, capacity, technology, and organizational requirements.
- Operational and Financial Leadership: Understands the connections among safety, quality, service, cost, reliability, labor, and capacity. Uses sound business and financial judgment to deliver the operating plan and steward resources effectively.
- Safety, Quality, and Risk Leadership: Establishes clear expectations and effective systems for safety, food safety, quality, environmental performance, compliance, and operational risk. Anticipates issues, makes timely decisions, and ensures incidents and root causes are addressed.
- Performance and Continuous Improvement: Creates disciplined practices that make results, risks, and ownership visible. Uses data, structured problem solving, and clear accountability to improve performance and sustain results.
- Change, Collaboration, and Influence: Leads operational, organizational, facility, and technology change with clarity and meaningful involvement. Builds strong partnerships, resolves cross-functional issues, and communicates effectively across shifts, functions, and stakeholder groups.
Success Factors - Genuine enthusiasm for King Arthur's mission and products and a commitment to living our values
- Demonstrates a strong sense of community by actively engaging and volunteering
Physical Requirements/Work Environment/Safety The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical Requirements
- Ability to work for extended periods at a desk using a computer, phone, and other standard office equipment.
- Frequent walking throughout manufacturing, warehouse, office, and facilities areas.
- Ability to stand for prolonged periods while conducting inspections, audits, investigations, training sessions, and facility walkthroughs.
- Frequent bending, stooping, kneeling, reaching, and climbing stairs while evaluating work areas, equipment, and facility conditions.
- Ability to occasionally lift, carry, push, or pull materials and equipment weighing up to 40 pounds.
- Ability to communicate effectively and travel between company locations as required to support safety and facilities operations.
Work Environment
- Works in a combination of office, manufacturing, warehouse, and facilities environments.
- Regular exposure to manufacturing operations, including noise, moving equipment, powered industrial vehicles, and active production processes.
- Exposure to airborne flour dust, dry ingredient particulates, and common food allergens.
- Exposure to equipment that can interfere with implanted medical devices
- Exposure to varying temperatures, including cold storage areas, receiving docks, outdoor conditions, and non-climate-controlled spaces.
- Occasional exposure to cleaning chemicals, maintenance materials, and construction or repair activities while utilizing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as required.
Safety
- Understands that safety is the responsibility of everyone at the organization and is responsible for adhering to/providing work in a safe and ergonomic manner, identifying unsafe conditions and correcting conditions immediately or reporting them promptly.
- Participates in safety and compliance training and safety and health programs.
Supervision
Leads and supervises the manufacturing plant leadership. The specific direct-report structure may evolve with business and organizational needs.
Travel
Limited travel is expected for supplier or equipment-partner visits, peer learning, conferences, training, and other business needs.
Other Duties
- Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice
It is the responsibility of every employee to contribute to a positive and safe work environment through cooperative and professional interactions with co-workers, customers, and vendors. As a proud Benefit Corporation, King Arthur Baking expects our employees to adhere to company-wide green norms and remain educated on company impact campaigns.
There's room at our table for you! Apply today. *Amounts vary based on achievement of financial targets. Participation based on hire date and program entry date.
