Production Manager - Butter and Powder Packaging

Production Manager

UDA is a local, family-owned, dairy cooperative committed to serve the needs of our members, community, and customers by providing high quality milk and dairy products. As the only milk marketing co-op in the state, UDA oversees the production, processing, and marketing of Arizona's finest milk products from farm to retail in 48 hours or less. From sweet cream and butter to non-fat dry milk, UDA provides milk products to manufactures and supermarket chains throughout the Grand Canyon State. Our motto at UDA is "United in Excellence." The dairy industry's success isn't built on one dairy or brand, it's built on the community as a whole - this includes our amazing employees. When you join UDA, you're not just joining a business, you're joining a family. Since 1960 UDA has been headquartered, operated, and managed in Arizona. We strive to provide our employees with rewarding career opportunities aimed at long-term stability, growth, and advancement. We put our heart and soul into our products and value our team who show up, every day and do the work.

The Production Manager will lead and optimize butter manufacturing and powder packaging operations for our facility. This critical role requires deep expertise in an expanding, high-volume butter operation with the possibility of future retail product lines. This role will directly manage a team of 20-30 employees across butter production and packaging departments, driving quality, efficiency, and strategic growth. This role requires previous high-volume butter experience to be considered.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities :

• Provides management of employees directly or through supervisors to ensure effective selection, retention, development, disciplinary action, and performance management.
• Directly supervising department supervisors and in an appropriate manner regarding all aspects of production activities, including prioritizing duties, delegating work assignments.
• Analyzes manufacturing data and identifies trends, variances, and opportunities for improvement; identifies and utilizes methods to assure manufacturing processes are more efficient and effective (reducing waste, reducing labor cost, etc).
• Directs adjustments of the manufacturing processes to maintain conformance with standards, specifications, and customer requirements.
• Ensures effective employee relations by supporting and maintaining a safe and positive work environment. Analyzes and assists in resolving work and / or employee issues through problem resolution.
• Acting as a manufacturing technical resource to address and resolve inquiries and problems regarding production, quality, and work problems as appropriate.
• Collaborate with UDA's senior leadership on plant production, growth strategy, staffing, and facility needs.
• Lead the development and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures for the departments they oversee.
• Regularly collaborate with UDA's quality team to enhance facility, production, and both food safety and quality compliance standards, including the participation of audits.
• Participating on cross-functional teams to build a culture of operational excellence and innovation in the areas of processing, methods, productivity, Good Manufacturing Practices, safety, and quality.
• Resolve production and safety problems as needed and provide immediate follow up on production variances and accident investigations.
• Being actively involved in safety efforts including, attending safety meetings, incident investigations, assisting in root cause analysis, auditing, as assigned.
• Monitor the cleanliness and maintenance, oversee the completion of needed repairs.
• Ensuring compliance with local and federal regulatory requirements including FDA, USDA, and the AZ Dept of Agriculture, resolving and / or reporting compliance issues immediately.

Qualifications :

Experience :

Education / Certifications :

Required

Preferred

Associates degree, with 5 or more years of management experience required or equivalent experience to include a minimum of seven (7) years of management experience required.

3 or more years of management experience required

Work Environment & Demands :

Physical and environmental demands for this position are indicated below :

Benefits :

The duties and responsibilities described are not a comprehensive list; employees may be subject to additional, or altered, tasks and the scope of the role may change as necessitated by business demands. UDA will not consider any application submissions from unauthorized third-parties, consulting, or external staffing firms and will not be held subject, or liable, to any terms, fees, or penalties associated with a submission.

UDA is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status.