Position: Plant Manager

Location: USA | Dyersburg, TN

What We Offer:

• Competitive pay, commensurate with experience
• Health/Dental/Vision plans
• 401k company match
• Life Insurance
• Short Term Disability & Long-Term Disability
• Educational Assistance
• Employee Assistance Plan

Job Summary:

Minerals Technologies Inc. is a global specialty minerals company. Our Pet Care business converts bentonite and related raw materials into premium cat litter and other pet products sold through leading national retailers and brand partners.

The Plant Manager has full site responsibility for the Dyersburg, Tennessee pet care facility, which operates three shifts, 24 hours a day, five days a week. The role owns the complete operation 1 receiving raw material delivered to the site, mixing and processing it, packaging finished pet care products, and shipping to customers on time and in full.

The Plant Manager is accountable for safety, quality, service, cost and people. This includes plant budget ownership, staffing and manning plans, production planning and scheduling, warehouse and shipping performance, maintenance and capital execution, and building a stable, engaged workforce in a high-performance work system environment.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Safety, Health and Environmental

• Own site safety performance; set the expectation that no product ships and no task is performed outside of safe work practices.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, state of Tennessee and MTI corporate EHS requirements, including lockout/tagout, machine guarding, confined space, mobile equipment and dust control programs.
• Lead incident investigation and root cause analysis; drive corrective actions to closure and share learnings across shifts.
• Champion behavior-based safety, hazard recognition and near-miss reporting across all three shifts.

Production and Process Operations

• Direct end-to-end production: raw material receiving and inventory, mixing and blending, processing, packaging, palletizing and finished goods shipment.
• Manage shift-to-shift continuity across a 24/5 operation, including start-up and shutdown routines, changeovers and weekend/maintenance windows.
• Monitor and report daily plant performance 1 throughput, yield, uptime, scrap and giveaway 1 and act quickly on deviations.
• Partner with Quality to ensure product meets customer and brand-owner specifications, including formulation accuracy, moisture, particle size, packaging integrity and labeling.
• Support new product introductions, trials, line extensions and packaging changes with production and customer readiness.

Planning, Shipping and Supply Chain

• Own the site production plan and schedule; balance customer demand, inventory targets, raw material availability and line capacity.
• Direct warehouse, logistics and shipping operations to deliver on-time, in-full performance and accurate inventory records.
• Coordinate inbound raw material deliveries with suppliers and transportation partners to protect continuity of supply.
• Interface directly with customers, brand partners and commercial teams on service, quality and capacity commitments.

Financial and Budget Ownership

• Own the plant operating budget; deliver cost per ton, conversion cost, labor, energy, maintenance and packaging material targets.
• Analyze variances monthly, explain drivers and lead corrective action plans.
• Identify, justify and execute capital projects; manage project scope, spend and startup to plan.

People, Staffing and Manning

• Build and maintain the site staffing and manning plan across all shifts, including hourly headcount, overtime control, temporary labor and succession for key roles.
• Partner with Human Resources on recruiting, onboarding, training, performance management, pay administration and employee relations.
• Develop supervisors and team leads; hold direct reports accountable for clear, measurable goals.
• Drive retention, attendance and engagement; maintain positive, direct employee relations and consistent application of company policy.
• Support a high-performance work system approach 1 skill-based development, cross-training and advancement from within.

Maintenance and Asset Reliability

• Ensure preventive and predictive maintenance programs protect equipment uptime in a continuous operation.
• Prioritize the maintenance backlog, manage spare parts strategy and control contractor spend and contractor safety.

OE/Lean:

• Manages, supports and achieves Operational Excellence and lean goals and initiatives, including 5S, inventory reduction, process flow and value stream mapping, standard work, Kaizen events and Total Productive Maintenance.
• Leads the site in a continuous improvement work environment and sustains daily management control 1 tiered shift meetings, visual boards and key performance indicator review.
• Supports quality and management teams with OE initiatives and actively identifies improvement opportunities.
• Uses structured problem solving and root cause analysis to eliminate repeat losses.

Other Duties & Responsibilities:

• Serve as the senior on-site leader and primary point of contact for the community, regulatory agencies and corporate functions.
• Maintain site security, housekeeping, facility condition and business continuity planning.
• Complete weekly and monthly reporting on safety, production, quality, cost and people metrics.
• Remain available by phone for off-shift and emergency plant issues.
• Other duties as assigned.

Read, write, speak and understand English.

Education:

Bachelor6s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business or a related technical field preferred. Equivalent manufacturing leadership experience will be considered in place of a degree.

Experience:

Minimum of five years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, including at least three years managing a department or site in a multi-shift, continuous operation. Experience in mixing/blending, bulk solids, powder handling, consumer packaged goods or packaging operations is strongly preferred. Prior full profit-and-loss or plant budget ownership is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Proven safety leadership and working knowledge of OSHA and environmental compliance requirements.
• Strong financial acumen 1 budget development, cost control and variance analysis.
• Practical knowledge of lean manufacturing, continuous improvement and daily management systems.
• Ability to lead production planning, scheduling, inventory and shipping in a demand-driven environment.
• Strong people leadership: coaching, accountability, conflict resolution and employee relations.
• Ability to prioritize and multitask in a fast-paced environment and make sound decisions under pressure.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills; comfortable using data to drive decisions.
• Effective written and verbal communication with employees, customers and senior leadership.
• Proficiency with ERP systems and Microsoft Office; experience with manufacturing reporting tools preferred.

Travel:

Minimal; occasional travel to other company sites, customers or corporate meetings.

Working Conditions:

Typically required to work in an office environment using standard office equipment. On a frequent basis there is exposure to plant areas, which includes outside weather conditions, loud noise from equipment and dust from production processes. Required personal protective equipment must be worn in designated areas. Must be able to move throughout the plant, including stairs and elevated platforms.

Work Hours:

Exempt, 40-plus hours per week. The site operates three shifts, 24 hours a day, five days a week. Must be available to support off-shift and weekend operations and be reachable by phone for emergencies.

Safety Training:

Must complete all required MTI and site-specific safety training, including new hire orientation, hazard communication, lockout/tagout, powered industrial truck safety, respiratory protection and emergency response, and maintain current certification as required.