Plant Manager

What You’ll Do

• Operational Leadership & Strategy - Lead and manage all manufacturing, production, maintenance, utilities, and EHS functions for the Keokuk facility with a strong focus on accountability and measurable performance.
• Champion a culture of operational discipline, continuous improvement, and data-driven decision making.
• Apply strong technical expertise - including Lean, Six Sigma, and structured problem solving to improve throughput, asset reliability, yield, and cost performance.
• Lead major change management initiatives, ensuring teams understand the “why,” adopt new ways of working, and sustain improvements.
• Cross-functional Leadership - Partner closely with Supply Chain, Procurement, Quality, R&D, and business teams to enable reliable end-to-end product flow.
• Drive customer-back thinking and anticipate customer needs through proactive planning, scenario analysis, and risk management ensuring a strong partnership with the Commercial Team.
• Collaborate with global and regional operations leaders to share best practices, replicate standards, and contribute to Roquette’s broader manufacturing excellence agenda.
• Continuous Improvement & Technical Rigor - Sponsor Lean Six Sigma projects and actively participate in frequent project reviews.
• Engage and focus the organization on cycle time improvement through the application of Lean and Kaizen events.
• Be a change agent for developing key organizational capabilities to continue to improve performance, using such methodologies as Lean Six Sigma, Operational Excellence, as well as other key process and leadership changes/improvements.
• Implement and sustain operational excellence systems, metrics, and visual performance management.
• People Leadership & Culture - Build a strong leadership bench by recruiting, developing, coaching, and retaining high-performing talent.
• Drive a culture of accountability, empowerment, and open communication.
• Lead the organization through change effectively, demonstrating authenticity, clarity, and consistency.
• EHS & Compliance - Maintain and continuously improve the site's safety culture, ensuring compliance with Roquette’s expectations and regulatory requirements.
• Model and reinforce strong personal commitment to EHS and environmental sustainability.

What You’ll Need

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering (or relevant engineering field), or operations management required. An advanced degree (MBA or Engineering) preferred.
• Experience: 15+ years of operational leadership in manufacturing; experience in corn wet milling or complex continuous chemical/food process manufacturing strongly preferred.
• Minimum 5 years as a senior production leader/site manager in a relevant manufacturing environment.
• Expertise in strategy development, cost management, and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to manage capital expenditures, budgeting and expense control, forecasting plant performance metrics.
• Demonstrated success in leading major change initiatives, improving production performance and cost structure.
• Ability to work effectively in a matrix organization.
• Demonstrated understanding and commitment to EHS development and compliance.
• Experience working in an environment where there is clear collaboration with other functions including commercial, R&D, finance, etc.
• If from a large company, the executive must demonstrate the ability to work in a lean, fast-paced environment, have a bias for action and focus on results.
• Key competencies of business acumen, intellectual horsepower, process management, managing diverse and challenging relationships.