Pellet Mill Plant Manger, Hope, ARK

WCB Outdoor Brands BBQ pellet manufacturing facility in Hope, Arkansas is seeking a Plant Manager to serve as the senior operational leader responsible for overall performance, productivity, and safety.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee all plant departments including production, maintenance, quality, safety, and warehouse and logistics.
• Establish clear priorities, goals, and performance expectations across all shifts to ensure reliable, efficient, and safe operations.
• Coach, mentor, and develop plant leadership team members to build capability, accountability, and bench strength.
• Promote WCB Bradley culture of safety, integrity, and operational excellence.
• Ensure adequate staffing levels, talent development plans, and succession planning for key roles.
• Direct daily production operations to meet volume, quality, and delivery requirements.
• Optimize production scheduling, material flow, and resource allocation to maximize throughput and reduce operating costs.
• Work closely with maintenance leadership to ensure equipment reliability, minimize downtime, and effectively execute preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Drive operational discipline in adherence to standard operating procedures, process controls, and standard work.
• Monitor production performance and adjust operations to meet planned targets.
• Champion the Safety First culture and ensure consistent compliance with OSHA, NFPA, and combustible dust standards.
• Ensure timely reporting, investigation, and corrective action for safety incidents.
• Oversee quality assurance processes to ensure pellet specifications, consistency, and performance meet brand standards.
• Maintain compliance with company policies, environmental regulations, and industry safety codes.
• Lead and support continuous improvement initiatives using lean, Six Sigma, and reliability centered maintenance principles.
• Identify and eliminate sources of waste, inefficiency, and downtime.
• Drive cost improvements in labor, materials, scrap, and energy while maintaining or improving output quality.
• Utilize data to identify bottlenecks, optimize processes, and improve overall equipment effectiveness.
• Monitor and report key operational metrics including:
  • Safety performance
  • Overall equipment effectiveness and throughput
  • Scrap, rework, and yield
  • Mean time between failures, mean time to repair, maintenance schedule compliance, maintenance backlog, and downtime
  • Labor and overhead cost performance
  • Service level and order fulfillment performance
• Analyze production data and lead corrective action plans to meet targets.
• Prepare operational reports and present performance results to senior leadership.
• Partner with engineering on capital projects, equipment upgrades, and long-term asset optimization.
• Collaborate with supply chain, planning, and procurement on materials, scheduling, and inventory management.
• Work closely with quality and safety teams to strengthen compliance and standardization across the plant.
• Serve as the primary site representative with internal stakeholders, auditors, and external partners.
• Provide leadership during emergencies, shutdowns, and high-priority operational situations.
• Perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, operations management, industrial technology, or related field required.
• Eight to ten years of manufacturing leadership experience, including multi-shift operations.
• Experience as a production manager, operations manager, or plant manager in a continuous process environment preferred.
• Experience in wood processing, pellet manufacturing, feed, biomass, or related industries strongly preferred.
• OSHA 30 required or obtained within six months.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement certifications preferred.

Skills

• Strong understanding of mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and process equipment common to pellet manufacturing.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex operations in a twenty-four-hour production environment.
• Excellent communication, leadership, team development, and organizational skills.
• Strong financial and analytical skills including cost management and budgeting.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure with sound decision-making.
• Proficiency in computer maintenance management systems, enterprise resource planning systems, production planning tools, and data analysis.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to work in outdoor environments and occasionally in temperatures above one hundred degrees Fahrenheit and below thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit.
• Ability to maintain regular attendance and work flexible hours including nights, weekends, or holidays when needed.
• Ability to work in a constant state of alertness and perform physically demanding tasks when required.