Rendering Supervisor (1147350)

Location: West Lafayette, IN area. Relocation assistance provided. Must be US Citizen or Green Card holder. Direct hire, full-time position.

About the role

The Rendering Supervisor leads daily rendering and by-products operations at a high-volume meat-processing facility. This role is responsible for safely converting animal by-products into finished products such as protein meals, fats, and related materials while meeting production, quality, food/feed safety, environmental, regulatory, and cost targets. The supervisor provides front-line leadership for production employees, coordinates with maintenance and other plant departments, and ensures equipment and processes operate safely, efficiently, and in accordance with company procedures.

Responsibilities

• Supervise daily rendering operations across assigned shifts, including raw-material receiving, cooking, separation, drying, fat handling, finished-product loading, and sanitation.
• Lead, coach, schedule, and evaluate rendering employees; ensure adequate staffing, training, accountability, and adherence to work standards.
• Maintain a strong safety culture by enforcing PPE, lockout/tagout, confined-space, hot-work, chemical-handling, and machine-guarding requirements.
• Monitor critical process conditions such as production throughput, cooker performance, temperatures, moisture, fat yield, product quality, equipment run time, and utility use.
• Ensure finished rendered products meet established specifications for moisture, protein, fat, particle size, contamination control, and customer requirements.
• Investigate production interruptions, quality deviations, safety incidents, equipment failures, and yield losses; implement timely corrective actions.
• Partner with Maintenance to prioritize repairs, coordinate preventive maintenance, plan shutdown work, and reduce unplanned downtime.
• Coordinate with slaughter, fabrication, transportation, wastewater, quality assurance, sanitation, and warehouse teams to ensure consistent material flow and timely shipment of finished products.
• Maintain accurate records for production, yields, inventory, downtime, sanitation, inspections, training, and regulatory compliance.
• Support compliance with applicable feed safety, environmental, occupational safety, animal by-product, wastewater, odor-control, and hazardous-material requirements.
• Conduct regular floor inspections and shift handoffs; communicate operating priorities, hazards, maintenance needs, and performance expectations.
• Drive continuous-improvement initiatives focused on safety, yield recovery, throughput, energy efficiency, product quality, housekeeping, and labor utilization.
• Manage inventories of chemicals, packaging, spare parts, fuel, additives, and other operating supplies as assigned.
• Respond to operational emergencies, including equipment failures, spills, odors, releases, fires, or other plant incidents, in accordance with site procedures.
• Perform other duties consistent with safe and efficient plant operations.

Requirements

• High school diploma or GED required; associate’s or bachelor’s degree in operations, industrial technology, agriculture, food science, engineering, or a related field preferred.
• Three or more years of supervisory, lead, or production-management experience in rendering, meat processing, food manufacturing, feed manufacturing, industrial processing, or a comparable high-volume manufacturing environment.
• Working knowledge of industrial processing equipment, including cookers, presses, centrifuges, dryers, pumps, conveyors, boilers, tanks, and associated controls.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams in a safety-sensitive, fast-paced, physically demanding production environment.
• Ability to interpret production reports, quality data, operating procedures, safety requirements, and maintenance information.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, documentation, and shift-planning skills.
• Ability to work flexible hours, including nights, weekends, holidays, and extended shifts when business conditions require.
• Proficiency with basic computer applications, production-reporting systems, and Microsoft Office or equivalent tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience in animal by-product rendering or a related protein, fats, oils, or feed-ingredient operation.
• Experience with HACCP, GMPs, sanitation programs, feed safety plans, environmental compliance, wastewater operations, or odor-control systems.
• Lean, Six Sigma, continuous-improvement, or root-cause-analysis experience.
• Knowledge of ammonia refrigeration, boiler systems, wastewater treatment, or process-control systems is an advantage.
• Bilingual English/Spanish communication skills.

Physical and Work Environment Requirements

• Ability to walk and stand for extended periods and work on wet, uneven, elevated, or slippery surfaces.
• Ability to lift, push, pull, and carry up to pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Ability to work around heat, steam, odors, noise, chemicals, moving equipment, and raw animal by-products.
• Must be able to wear required PPE, which may include safety glasses, hearing protection, gloves, hard hat, respirator, protective clothing, and steel-toe footwear.
• Must be able to work in indoor and outdoor processing areas with varying temperatures and humidity.

Pay

$75,000.00 USD Annually - $85,000.00 USD Annually, plus 12% bonus paid out quarterly, and $2,300 annual shift per diem.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits package included.