The Plant Training & Onboarding Lead is responsible for coordinating, standardizing and continuously improving onboarding, technical training, qualification and development programs for all hourly employees across 3 manufacturing operations.
The role ensures new hires receive structured, role-specific onboarding and practical on-the-job training that prepares them to safely and effectively perform the work for which they were hired. The position partners with Operations, Human Resources, Safety, Quality, Maintenance and departmental leaders to improve employee readiness, close skills gaps and strengthen early-tenure retention.
As an individual contributor with no direct reports, the position achieves results through cross-functional coordination, trainer development, supervisor support, training audits, competency verification and disciplined follow-up. Success is measured by faster time to qualification, consistent onboarding execution, stronger training effectiveness, improved new hire retention and fewer operational issues attributable to skill gaps.
Compensation$90,000 base salary + bonus, commensurate with experience
ResponsibilitiesNew Hire Onboarding
- Develop, coordinate and maintain standardized onboarding programs for all hourly plant roles, including Production, Process Technicians, Maintenance, Quality, Warehouse, Shipping/Receiving and Material Handling.
- Create role-specific 30-60-90-day onboarding plans with defined learning activities, job exposure, competency milestones and accountabilities.
- Ensure new hires are assigned to and trained on the work they were hired to perform, with appropriate exposure to actual job duties throughout the onboarding period.
- Coordinate onboarding schedules among HR, supervisors, trainers and support departments and confirm required resources are available before the employee starts.
Technical Training & Qualification
- Develop and maintain role-based training plans, qualification standards, checklists and certification requirements for hourly positions.
- Coordinate technical, safety, quality, GMP/food safety, SOP and work-instruction training using current approved materials.
- Coordinate retraining and recertification when processes, equipment, standards or employee performance requirements change.
On-the-Job Training & Trainer Effectiveness
- Support the design and execution of standardized On-the-Job Training programs across plants and shifts.
- Partner with department leaders to select qualified trainers and mentors based on technical competence, communication skills, reliability and safety performance.
- Provide train-the-trainer coaching, tools and guidance to improve consistency, demonstration, feedback and adult-learning practices.
- Maintain trainer qualification records and recommend corrective action when training quality is ineffective or inconsistent.
Skills Management & Cross-Training
- Own and maintain plant skills matrices for all hourly roles and ensure qualification status is current and visible.
- Identify critical skills gaps, single-point dependencies and coverage risks by plant, department, role and shift.
- Partner with supervisors and managers to prioritize cross-training, refresher training and coverage for critical roles.
- Track training completion and follow up on overdue, incomplete or undocumented training.
- Support succession and advancement pathways for hourly employees.
Qualifications:- Post-secondary education in Adult Education, Human Resources, Operations, Engineering Technology, Manufacturing or a related discipline is preferred; an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience will be considered.
- 3-5 years of experience in manufacturing operations, technical training, production leadership, quality, maintenance, process technology or learning and development in a plant environment.
- Practical knowledge of hourly manufacturing roles, On-the-Job Training, SOPs, work instructions, skills matrices and competency-based qualification.
- Experience coordinating structured new hire onboarding and role-specific technical training.
- Ability to work effectively on the plant floor across multiple locations.
- Strong facilitation, coaching, communication, organization and follow-up skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and training record, document-control or learning-management systems.
- Experience in plastics, packaging, thermoforming, food, pharmaceutical, automotive or other high-speed manufacturing is preferred.
- Lean manufacturing, root-cause analysis and continuous-improvement experience is an asset
