Area Leader

About the role

Ready to make an impact at one of JM Smucker's newest manufacturing facilities? As an Area Leader, you'll lead a high-performing team, drive operational excellence, and help bring America's favorite crustless sandwich to families across the country.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to safely deliver quality products while meeting production goals.
• Champion a world-class safety culture through visible leadership and accountability.
• Drive operational excellence by eliminating losses, improving processes, and delivering results.
• Maintain a strong presence on the plant floor, coaching and developing team members.
• Set clear expectations, provide timely feedback, and manage performance.
• Build an engaged, high-performing team through recognition and positive leadership.
• Lead daily shift meetings, establish priorities, and make real-time adjustments to achieve targets.
• Make sound business decisions that support safety, quality, service, and cost objectives.
• Develop team members for current success and future growth opportunities.
• Oversee training and qualification programs to build capability and consistency.
• Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, Technical Services, and Quality teams.
• Support plant startup activities, including commissioning, qualification, and verification (CQV).
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance productivity, reliability, and efficiency.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required; Bachelor of Science preferred.
• 2+ years of food manufacturing operations experience required; food manufacturing preferred.
• 2+ years of leadership, supervisory, or people management experience required.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, engage, and develop teams in a manufacturing environment.

Qualifications

• Strong leadership presence with the ability to motivate and inspire teams.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, and problem-solving tools.
• Proven track record of delivering results through others.
• Passion for coaching, mentoring, and developing talent.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Flexibility to support off-shift, weekend, or extended-hour business needs.