Plant Manager

Canterbury Coffee

• $130K — $140K *
Food & Beverages
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, Business, or related discipline, or equivalent experience.
  • 7-10 years progressive manufacturing experience with at least 5 years in a supervisory or management role.
  • Proven track record in plant operations, budget management, team leadership, and continuous improvement.
  • Strong grasp of food manufacturing and OHS regulations, including SQF, HACCP, and GMP.
  • Extensive knowledge of Lean manufacturing, structured problem-solving, and operational performance, with Lean Six Sigma training as a plus.
  • Experience with maintenance and reliability, capital projects, and ERP/MRP systems.
  • Strong financial, analytical, planning, and communication skills with an ability to balance operational and business goals.

Responsibilities

  • Set standards for safety and food safety excellence within the plant.
  • Drive operational performance to meet product quality and delivery goals while managing costs and capacity.
  • Champion Lean manufacturing principles to enhance productivity and quality.
  • Develop high-performing teams by clearly setting expectations and providing development opportunities.
  • Enhance reliability and performance of plant systems and equipment for future growth.
  • Collaborate across departments to inform business decisions and translate customer needs into operational reality.
  • Manage plant financial performance while ensuring adherence to safety, quality, and compliance standards.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health and dental benefits.
  • 4 weeks of paid vacation.
  • Immediate eligibility for the Group Benefits Program.
  • Vacation Purchase Program.
  • Paid Volunteer Day.
  • Employee pricing on product line.
  • Free, on-site parking.
  • Supportive work environment with learning and development opportunities.
  • Enjoy a workplace filled with the aroma of coffee daily.
Full Job Description
Plant Manager

Richmond, British Columbia

We are looking for an experienced, people-focused Plant Manager to lead our coffee roasting and manufacturing operations in Richmond, BC, driving quality, operational excellence, and a customer-focused culture. You will own plant performance across manufacturing, maintenance, and internal logistics while building a culture of safety, accountability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

What You'll Do

Lead Safety & Food Safety Excellence:

  • Set the standards for a safe, food-safe, quality-focused operation where people, products, and customers come first.
  • Build internal accountability, systems, and leadership discipline that keep the plant compliant, audit-ready, and operating to high standards.


Drive Operational Performance:

  • Lead the plant to deliver the right product, quality, and timing while balancing people, capacity, cost, and customer demand.
  • Translate business priorities into clear goals, performance measures, and decisions that drive results within the plant.


Build a Culture of Continuous Improvement:

  • Champion Lean manufacturing thinking and challenge how work gets done to improve flow, productivity, reliability, quality, and cost.
  • Turn ideas into measurable results and embed improvements into everyday operations.


Develop High-Performing Teams:

  • Create clarity around expectations, accountability, and performance while giving leaders and employees the tools to succeed.
  • Develop future plant leaders through coaching, capability building, and meaningful opportunities to lead.


Lead Reliability & Asset Performance:

  • Strengthen the reliability and performance of equipment, systems, and infrastructure.
  • Shape investment priorities in equipment, automation, technology, and capacity to support current performance and future growth.


Partner Across the Business:

  • Bring an operational perspective to business decisions and collaborate across Sales, Quality, Supply Chain, Production, Maintenance, Warehousing, and other functions.
  • Turn customer needs, new products, packaging opportunities, and growth plans into successful plant execution.


Scope of Leadership

Manufacturing Operations:

  • Own overall plant performance across roasting, packaging, maintenance, and internal logistics.
  • Set operating direction and priorities, balancing Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, People, and Environment to deliver business and customer commitments.


Safety, Food Safety & Compliance:

  • Set the leadership expectations and operating discipline required for a safe, compliant, high-quality food manufacturing environment.
  • Uphold plant accountability for OHS, SQF, HACCP, GMP, customer, and other applicable standards.


Operational Excellence:

  • Shape the plant's continuous improvement agenda, embedding Lean manufacturing thinking, structured problem-solving, and sustainable performance improvement.
  • Influence how work is designed, measured, and improved across the operation.


Maintenance & Reliability:

  • Set priorities for preventive maintenance, equipment reliability, downtime reduction, and asset performance.
  • Influence capital, automation, infrastructure, and technology decisions that strengthen plant capability and future capacity.


People Leadership:

  • Lead and develop the plant leadership team, creating clarity, accountability, engagement, and a strong pipeline of future leaders.
  • Shape workforce capability through staffing, development, performance, succession, and partnership with People & Culture.


Financial Stewardship:

  • Own plant financial performance through responsible management of the operating budget and controllable manufacturing costs.
  • Balance investment and cost decisions with safety, quality, reliability, customer service, and long-term business value.


Who You Are

You're an experienced manufacturing leader who combines operational discipline with a people-first leadership approach. You know how to turn business priorities into plant performance, build capable teams, and create a culture where safety, quality, reliability, and continuous improvement are how work gets done.

You bring:

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, Business, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
  • 7-10 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including at least 5 years leading teams in a supervisory or management capacity, ideally in food, beverage, coffee, or CPG manufacturing.
  • Demonstrated experience leading plant operations, budgets, people, performance, and continuous improvement.
  • Strong understanding of food manufacturing and OHS requirements, including SQF or another GFSI-recognized program, HACCP, GMPs, sanitation, and preventive controls.
  • Strong knowledge of Lean manufacturing, structured problem-solving, operational performance, and continuous improvement; Lean Six Sigma training is an advantage.
  • Experience with maintenance and reliability, capital projects, automated manufacturing or packaging equipment, and ERP/MRP or manufacturing performance systems.
  • Strong financial, analytical, planning, decision-making, and communication skills, with the ability to balance operational priorities and business outcomes.
  • Coffee roasting, blending, and packaging experience, or an MBA/advanced business education, is an advantage.


We Offer:

  • Base salary range of $130,000 - $140,000. Salary will be commensurate with experience, skills, and qualifications.
  • Comprehensive health and dental benefits.
  • 4 weeks of paid vacation.
  • Immediate eligibility to participate in our Group Benefits Program.
  • Vacation Purchase Program
  • Paid Volunteer Day
  • Employee pricing on our product line-up
  • Free, on-site parking
  • A fun and supportive environment with opportunities for learning and development.
  • And...a workplace filled with the aroma of coffee....all day...every day

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