Sumter Sheet Plan Area Process Manager

Location: Sumter, SC
Reporting Relationship: Manufacturing manager

Sylvamo's Sumter sheet plant, located in Sumter, South Carolina, is an expanding 220,000-square-foot plant that houses three high speed precision sheeters and 6 Packaging Lines, producing over 285,000 tons. The Sumter plant operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week employing 130+ people within high-performance work systems.

Sylvamo offers a collaborative work environment, competitive compensation, performance-based incentives, and a comprehensive benefits package, including medical coverage, life insurance, disability benefits, paid holidays, vacation, 401(k), and retiree savings programs.

Position Summary

The Area Process Manager (APM) is responsible for leading all aspects of operations at the Sumter Sheet Plant, with a strong focus on safety, quality, people development, equipment reliability, and outage coordination.

Accountable for the long-term development and performance of the workforce, including coaching, mentoring, succession planning, and performance management. This position requires fostering a culture of engagement, accountability, and continuous improvement while ensuring team members have the skills and support needed to achieve operational objectives.

Collaborates closely with Maintenance and other operational areas to drive reliability improvements, optimize converting processes, and support plant-wide continuous improvement initiatives. Additional responsibilities include budget development and management, cost control, outage planning and execution, process optimization, equipment modifications, and the implementation of capital improvement projects.

Will serve as a key member of the Sheet Plant leadership team and will participate in the plant's weekend call rotation to provide operational support and leadership as needed.

Key Responsibilities
• Provide indirect leadership and performance management for approximately 54 Operating Technicians, with accountability for safety performance, product quality, reliability, and operational excellence.
• Lead the long-term development of the team and individual team members through coaching, mentoring, performance management, and succession planning.
• Develop and implement training improvement strategies for technicians that align with the plant's Pay and Progression System and support workforce capability growth.
• Actively participate as a member of the Sumter Management Team, including serving in the plant's weekend call rotation to provide leadership support and operational coverage.
• Serve as a key resource to Reliability Leaders and Operations teams in identifying operational issues, conducting root cause analysis, and implementing sustainable solutions.
• Coordinate maintenance and reliability activities, including field days, Capital Improvement Projects (CIP), planned outages, equipment repairs, and upgrade initiatives.
• Manage operating and maintenance/reliability budgets and costs for all sheeter equipment while ensuring efficient utilization of resources.
• Lead the planning, execution, and implementation of process modifications, equipment improvements, and capital upgrades within the sheeting area.
• Maintain a strong presence in and ownership of the Converting Manufacturing Excellence process, ensuring performance metrics are monitored, communicated, and leveraged to drive continuous improvement.
• Partner closely with Reliability Leaders to sustain and enhance the plant's equipment basic care processes, driving improved asset performance and operational reliability.
• Foster strong cross-functional communication and collaboration among Operations, Maintenance, Reliability, and other plant departments to achieve business objectives and continuous improvement goals.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Technical Discipline, Business, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Minimum of three (3) years of leadership experience within a warehousing and/or shipping & logistics function preferably at a Pulp and Paper, or related industrial manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated success leading teams and delivering results in safety, reliability, operational performance, and cost management.

Core Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong technical expertise in sheeting and warehousing functions.
• Customer focus and business acumen.
• Strategic thinking
• Agility and adaptability in a dynamic operating environment.
• Courageous leadership and sound decision-making.
• Integrity and trustworthiness.
• Strong team-building and employee development capabilities.
• Commitment to operational excellence and continuous improvement.
• Collaborative and inclusive leadership
• Excellent communication at all levels of the organization

Sylvamo partners with you and your family on your health and wellness journey. We offer a premium suite of health and wellness programs for you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, and a generous 401(k) plan with matching company contributions, and more. Sylvamo is here for all stages of life. We also offer paid time off and paid holidays per year.

The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. The Company reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.