Plant Production Manager

Roquetteis a family-owned global leader in plant-based ingredients and a leading provider of pharmaceutical excipients.

Want to help us make a difference?
Using plant-based resources, we collaborate with our customers and partners to imagine and offer ingredients to better feed people and treat patients.
Each of our ingredients responds to unique and essential needs, and they enable healthier lifestyles.

Plant Production Manager – Refinery F

We are looking for our next Plant Production Manager within our Refinery F team. The Plant Production Manager will be responsible for providing frontline operational leadership for assigned production teams in a food-grade manufacturing environment producing polyols, mannitol, and maltitol. Reporting to the Senior Production Manager, this role leads salaried and bargaining unit employees ensuring safe operations, environmental compliance, and product quality while driving KPI performance and supporting broader business goals.

This position is located in Keokuk, IA.

Operational Leadership and Production Execution

• Lead day-to-day production operations for Refinery F.
• Monitor operational performance across multiple rotating shifts and set daily production priorities to meet customer requirements and plant objectives.
• Ensure production activities are executed in a way that delivers product right the first time and supports on-time shipment performance.
• Interpret process conditions, product specifications, and customer requirements to make sound operating decisions that protect quality and performance.

Team Guidance and Accountability

• As Roquette Keokuk is a 24/7 operation, this prime leadership role for Refinery F will reflect that model when necessary.
• Provide tactical and strategic direction for the assigned teams so they can meet operational responsibilities, shifting priorities, and performance expectations.
• Create a culture of accountability, responsiveness, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure team members understand expectations related to safety, quality, output, systems accuracy, and operational discipline.

KPI Management and Performance Analysis

• Gather, monitor, and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) for Refinery F to include safety, environmental, quality, production attainment, reliability, yields, capacity, cost, downtime, and other operational performance measures.
• Understand, communicate, and achieve KPI targets through well thought out action plans.
• Use data trends and performance results to identify issues, prioritize resources, and drive corrective or improvement actions.
• Lead regular team reviews of KPI results and reinforce accountability for performance outcomes.

SAP / Symphony Accuracy and Production Data Integrity

• Ensure accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of production-related entries in Symphony and SAP.
• Validate production transactions, material movements, inventory-related entries, and other system inputs needed to support production accounting and operational decision-making.
• Reinforce transactional discipline and follow-up within the team to ensure system data reflects actual plant activity.
• Investigate and resolve data discrepancies and partner with appropriate teams to improve reporting accuracy and process consistency.
• Support team understanding of production accounting expectations, which is important to the role.

Safety, Quality, and Compliance

• Lead operations with a strong focus on safe actions, environmental compliance, and quality production.
• Ensure team knowledge, understanding, and compliance with all policies, procedures, work instructions, and quality control standards.
• Maintain sound process controls through refinery personnel and promote disciplined execution of standard operating practices.
• As necessary, lead RCA investigations for Refinery F.

Planning, Coordination, and Resource Management

• Support and lead planning for Refinery F production, maintenance, and operational activities to maximize efficiency and achieve quality and performance targets.
• Partner closely with Maintenance and other departments to balance production needs, maintenance spending, asset health, and equipment availability.
• Manage spending within area budget requirements and support effective use of labor and plant resources.
• Coordinate across functions to remove barriers and improve execution of plant priorities.

Troubleshooting and Continuous Improvement

• Lead technical and non-technical troubleshooting efforts, engaging team members and technical resources to resolve moderate to complex issues.
• Identify and remove barriers to operational improvement and encourage ideas and solutions from employees, engineers, team leaders, and other departments.
• Drive continuous improvement in reliability, productivity, quality, process control, and operating efficiency.
• Support innovation and practical problem-solving that improves refinery performance over time.

People Leadership and Development

• Lead Refinery F teams with clear, consistent communication and strong day-to-day leadership.
• Develop employees through training, coaching, objective setting, evaluation, and performance reviews.
• Build team capability in the understanding of Refinery F operations practices, systems, and troubleshooting.
• Guide interpretation and compliance with the bargaining unit contract and resolve complex personnel issues with Human Resources as needed.
• Foster a respectful, accountable, and high-performing team environment.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field, or equivalent technical process experience.

Experience:

• 8+ years of experience in a food and/or chemical continuous processing plant; 10+ years preferred.
• 8+ years of leadership and/or supervisory experience desired.
• Demonstrated leadership, coaching, communication, and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrated experience in program or project development and execution.
• Strong organizational and planning skills with the ability to multitask and lead cross-functional teams.
• Strong understanding of chemical unit operations in food-grade processes, food-grade processing theory and application, mechanical aptitude with process equipment, and production accounting.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute short- and medium-term production plans to meet output requirements.
• Advanced troubleshooting and problem-solving capability.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word.

Preferred:

• Experience with SAP and Symphony or similar ERP/manufacturing systems.
• Experience managing KPI performance in a complex manufacturing environment.
• Experience in unionized operations.
• Experience in specialty ingredient, polyol, mannitol, or maltitol manufacturing environments.

• This role spends approximately 50% of the time in an office environment and 50% of the time in the plant environment.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to speak or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk, climb stairs, use hands and fingers to handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms; work in hot, cold and loud environments. Employee must be able to wear a respirator.

• Travel will be required when working on projects at other manufacturing plants (currently US, Canada, Brazil).
• 80% of projects take place in Keokuk, IA.
• Occasional international travel may be expected.

Roquette is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. “AAP, EEO, Drug-Free Workplace”

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

If you identify yourself in this position, please apply by uploading your resume and let's start the journey together!

Roquette is proud to be a global company where you can find personal and professional growth through multiple diverse experiences.

Roquette strives to create a dynamic workforce while remaining firmly committed to equal opportunity by complying with EEO laws.

As we continue to grow, Roquette understands that to be successful we must always be inclusive in our approach.

To find out more about our products, values and sustainable development ambitions visit us at www.roquette.com and at www.sustainability.roquette.com