Overview:
As our Senior Director of Operations, you'll be the driving force behind scaling a fast-growing plant-based nutritional beverage manufacturing business experiencing significant year-over-year growth. You'll oversee the full production lifecycle-from ingredient intake and formulation through processing, packaging, and distribution-while building the operational structure, systems, and discipline required to support sustained expansion. Your leadership will enable the plant to keep pace with demand growth while maintaining the highest standards of quality, nutrition, safety, and consistency.
Key Performance Outcomes:
- Manufacturing output and efficiency
- Cost savings and budget adherence
- Supply chain reliability and performance, including fill rate %
- Quality control compliance
- TRIR/Days without safety incidents
Statement of Work & Responsibilities:
- Lead daily manufacturing operations, including production, warehousing, and supply chain coordination across plant-based nutritional beverage lines.
- Develop and implement strategies to improve yield, reduce waste, and enhance overall production efficiency while maintaining formulation integrity and product quality.
- Ensure compliance with all applicable food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements (HACCP, CFIA, SQF), as well as workplace health and safety standards.
- Partner with procurement and ingredient suppliers to ensure reliable availability of high-quality plant-based inputs, functional ingredients, and packaging materials.
- Manage operating budgets, monitor KPIs, and deliver clear, actionable operational performance reports to leadership.
- Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of production planning, inventory management, and barcode-enabled traceability and fulfillment processes to ensure accuracy, visibility, and compliance across the supply chain.
- Champion continuous improvement initiatives, including lean manufacturing, process optimization, and automation upgrades tailored to nutritional beverage production.
- Lead operations through a high-growth phase (approximately 50% year-over-year), scaling people, processes, systems, and physical capacity without sacrificing quality or compliance.
- Design and implement scalable operating models, workforce plans, and production schedules to support rapid volume growth and increasing product and customer complexity.
- Mentor and develop plant managers, supervisors, and team leads to foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.
- Collaborate closely with R&D to support new product development, scale-ups, reformulations, and seasonal or demand-driven production changes.
Desired Skills and Experience:
- 8+ years of progressive leadership experience in food and beverage manufacturing, preferably within cold chain and/or perishable product environments. Experience managing 3PL relationships and supporting food and beverage export operations into the U.S. and other international markets is considered a strong asset
- Proven experience leading operations in a fast-growing manufacturing environment, successfully scaling facilities, teams, and systems to support sustained double-digit growth.
- Strong working knowledge of production planning, quality systems, and supply chain management in a regulated food manufacturing environment.
- Demonstrated success implementing process and efficiency improvements that deliver measurable operational and financial results.
- Hands-on experience with Canadian food safety regulations, certifications, and audits (CFIA, HACCP, SQF).
- Exceptional people leadership skills with the ability to align cross-functional teams around performance, quality, and safety goals.
- Strong data-driven decision-making skills, with hands-on experience implementing and optimizing inventory systems and barcode-driven inventory, lot traceability, and fulfillment processes in support of rapid growth and operational scalability
- A genuine interest in plant-based nutrition, sustainability, and manufacturing innovation.
Note
As a standardized step in the application process, we ask that you complete the Culture Index (TM) Survey so we can see how it may apply to your work related needs as well as our company requirements. It also assists us in better employee management and development. Please complete the survey by following the URL: here.
Vacancy Status: This is an existing vacancy.
Annual Compensation Range: $150,000.00 CAD - $190,000.00 CAD
AI Use: Please note that as part of our interview process, candidates selected will be asked to complete an online assessment hosted on an AI platform. We may also use AI tools during interviews and case studies to support note-taking and evaluation (for example, meeting transcription). Information collected through these tools is used solely for recruitment and assessment purposes.
Why You'll Love It Here
- A values-driven culture centered on quality, transparency, sustainability, and employee well-being.
- The opportunity to play a key leadership role in a rapidly growing plant-based nutrition business, with the mandate and support to build scalable, best-in-class operations.
- Competitive compensation package, including performance-based incentives tied to operational results.
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits starting on day one.
- Employee product discounts and regular opportunities to engage with new and innovative nutritional beverage formulations.
- The chance to lead meaningful, high-impact projects that shape the future of our manufacturing capabilities and product portfolio.
Greenhouse
