Plant Manager

About the Role

Valley Milk is seeking an experienced, forward-thinking Plant Manager to lead our world-class dairy ingredient manufacturing facility in Turlock, California. This role provides strategic and operational leadership for all manufacturing functions, including Production, Maintenance, Warehouse, Sanitation, and related operations. You will drive safety, quality, productivity, employee engagement, and financial performance while fostering a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.

Our state-of-the-art facility processes more than 2.5 million pounds of milk each day, producing premium dairy ingredients including milk powders, anhydrous milk fat (AMF), and ultra-filtered milk for domestic and international markets.

Why Valley Milk?

• State-of-the-art dairy manufacturing facility
• Privately owned by California dairy families with long-term vision
• Industry-leading A2/A2 milk supply
• Growth-oriented leadership team
• Opportunity to shape culture and operational excellence
• Competitive compensation and benefits package

Responsibilities

• Lead all day-to-day manufacturing operations
• Drive a culture of safety, accountability, and operational excellence
• Develop and mentor department leaders while building high-performing teams
• Champion Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement initiatives
• Improve OEE, productivity, throughput, yields, and operational efficiency
• Ensure compliance with SQF, HACCP, GMP, FDA, OSHA/Cal-OSHA, and environmental regulations
• Manage plant budgets and achieve cost, quality, and profitability objectives
• Analyze operational KPIs and implement sustainable corrective actions
• Support capital improvement projects and operational modernization
• Partner with Executive Leadership to support long-term business strategy

Requirements

Required Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience
• At least 5 years leading plant operations within food, dairy, or consumer packaged goods manufacturing
• Strong dairy manufacturing experience with milk drying or spray drying operations
• Proven success implementing Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement programs
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams and developing leaders
• History of improving safety, quality, productivity, employee engagement, and financial performance

Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Food Science, Dairy Science, Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent combinations of education, specialized training, and progressively responsible manufacturing leadership experience will also be considered.

Preferred Qualifications

• Dairy powder manufacturing
• Anhydrous Milk Fat (AMF)
• Ultra-filtered milk processing
• SQF-certified facilities
• Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, 5S, Value Stream Mapping
• OEE improvement
• Capital project leadership

Leadership Competencies

• Safety Leadership
• Operational Excellence
• Strategic Thinking
• Accountability
• Financial Acumen
• Coaching & Talent Development
• Change Leadership
• Collaboration
• Customer Focus
• Results Orientation