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Plant Manager

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Food Manufacturing

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York Region (On-Site)

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Salary: $130,000-$150,000 range plus bonus.

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Our client is a well-established food manufacturing organization seeking a Plant Manager to lead one of its key operations. This is a highly visible leadership role with full accountability for plant performance, safety, quality, and culture.

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The successful candidate will be a hands-on, people-centered leader—someone who understands that sustainable results come from engaged teams, disciplined execution, and a relentless focus on continuous improvement. This role offers the opportunity to shape culture, develop future leaders, and position the facility for long-term growth.

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Reporting to senior operations leadership, the Plant Manager will assume full responsibility for the day-to-day and strategic performance of the facility, leading unionized teams across production, maintenance, sanitation, warehouse/logistics, and quality.

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Key accountabilities include

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- Providing strong, visible leadership across all plant functions, fostering accountability, trust, and collaboration
- Creating and sustaining a culture of food safety, quality excellence, and workplace safety, ensuring compliance with BRC, HACCP, GMP, and Health & Safety regulations
- Delivering operational performance against key metrics including efficiency, yield, cost, waste, labour utilization, and service levels
- Leading, coaching, and developing supervisors and managers; building a high-performing pipeline of talent
- Partnering cross-functionally with Quality, Supply Chain, R&D;, HR,



and Finance to support business priorities and new product introductions
- Overseeing production planning, capacity management, and forecasting in alignment with customer demand
- Driving Continuous Improvement initiatives, including Lean manufacturing, automation, and reliability-focused maintenance practices
- Managing the plant operating budget, with accountability for labour, materials, utilities, waste, and maintenance spend
- Navigating labour relations effectively within a unionized environment, balancing performance expectations with a respectful, people-first approach
- Supporting capital projects, operational readiness for growth, and future expansion initiatives
- Acting as a credible, professional representative of the plant with suppliers, auditors, and regulatory bodies

What Success Looks Liken

Success in this role will be measured through:

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- Consistent achievement of operational KPIs (efficiency, yield, cost-per-unit, labour utilization)
- Strong food safety and quality outcomes, including audit performance
- Reduced downtime, waste, and rework
- High levels of employee engagement, retention, and bench strength
- A safe workplace with strong leading and lagging safety indicators




- Effective cost control and budget adherence

The ideal candidate will bring a solid blend of operational discipline, emotional intelligence, and leadership maturity.n

Required experience and attributes include:

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- 7–10 years of progressive leadership experience in food manufacturing, including senior plant-level responsibility
- Proven success leading operations in a unionized manufacturing environment
- Background in bakery, fresh/frozen foods, or CPG manufacturing strongly preferred
- Demonstrated ability to lead end-to-end plant operations including production, maintenance, warehouse, and quality
- Track record of delivering Continuous Improvement, Lean, and automation initiatives
- Solid understanding of production planning, ERP systems, forecasting, and inventory management
- Sound financial acumen with experience managing operating budgets
- Strong working knowledge of BRC, HACCP, GMP, and occupational health & safety requirements
- A visible, communicative leader who connects well within a diverse, multicultural workforce
- Calm, practical approach to change management and problem-solving

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About De Lacy Executive Recruitment: De Lacy Executive Recruitment provides professional recruitment services for employers and candidates in Agriculture and Food & Beverage Processing. Our dedicated team is committed to exceeding expectations and delivering results. For more information about our services, please call (phone hidden) or email [email protected].

Apply on Kit Job: kitjob.ca/job/2jubqz

📌 Plant Manager (Regional Municipality of York)
🏢 De Lacy Executive Recruitment North America
📍 Regional Municipality of York