Plant Manager
Location: Uxbridge, Ontario Employment Type: Full-Time, Permanent
About Hela Spice Canada Inc.
Hela Spice Canada Inc. is an established manufacturer specializing in custom spice blends, seasonings and innovative ingredient solutions for the food industry. We are committed to quality, food safety, operational excellence and continuous improvement.
We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Plant Manager to lead our manufacturing operations, strengthen operational performance and develop a high-performing team.
The successful candidate will be an effective leader with extensive plant management experience in the food or pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, strong operational knowledge and a demonstrated ability to drive accountability, efficiency, safety and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities
Plant Operations & Performance
- Oversee daily plant operations, including production, batching, packaging, maintenance, logistics and scheduling.
- Ensure production targets, customer commitments and quality standards are consistently achieved.
- Establish and monitor operational KPIs, including labour efficiency, downtime, production output, waste and equipment utilization.
- Identify opportunities to improve production processes, reduce operating costs and eliminate bottlenecks.
- Ensure effective production planning, resource allocation and coordination between departments.
- Lead continuous improvement initiatives to strengthen productivity and overall plant performance.
Leadership & Employee Development
- Provide leadership, direction and accountability to plant supervisors and operational employees.
- Establish clear performance expectations and conduct regular performance reviews.
- Develop structured employee training programs and support succession planning.
- Address employee performance, attendance and workplace conduct issues in collaboration with Human Resources.
- Foster a positive, respectful and accountable workplace culture.
- Ensure supervisors consistently enforce company policies, procedures and operational standards.
Health, Safety & Quality
- Promote a strong workplace safety culture and ensure compliance with Ontario occupational health and safety requirements.
- Work collaboratively with the Quality Assurance and Food Safety teams to maintain regulatory compliance and product quality.
- Ensure employees follow established GMP, sanitation, safety and operational procedures.
- Support corrective actions, incident investigations and preventative measures.
- Maintain high standards of plant cleanliness, organization and operational discipline.
Maintenance & Continuous Improvement
- Work closely with maintenance personnel to ensure equipment reliability and minimize downtime.
- Oversee preventative maintenance planning and equipment performance.
- Identify and support capital equipment investments, automation and facility improvements.
- Implement Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Ensure effective utilization of equipment, labour and production resources.
Financial & Operational Management
- Manage plant operating budgets, labour costs and departmental expenditures.
- Monitor manufacturing costs and identify opportunities for cost savings.
- Support capital expenditure planning and operational forecasting.
- Prepare regular operational performance reports for senior management.
- Collaborate with Finance, Human Resources, Quality Assurance, R&D and Sales to support business objectives.
Required Qualifications
- College diploma in Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business Administration, Engineering Technology or a related discipline.
- Minimum 5 years of proven Plant Manager experience in a food or pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.
- Minimum 10 years of progressive manufacturing experience.
- Demonstrated experience managing plant supervisors and multidisciplinary manufacturing teams.
- Strong knowledge of manufacturing operations, production planning, equipment maintenance and continuous improvement.
- Working knowledge of GMP, food safety or pharmaceutical quality standards.
- Proven ability to improve plant productivity, operational efficiency and employee performance.
- Strong understanding of Ontario occupational health and safety requirements.
- Experience managing operating budgets, labour costs and capital projects.
- Strong leadership, communication, organizational and problem-solving skills.
- Proficiency with ERP systems and Microsoft Office applications.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with spice, seasoning, ingredient blending, dry food processing or related manufacturing operations.
- Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma training.
- Experience with SAP.
- Experience implementing operational KPIs and performance management systems.
- Experience with manufacturing automation, facility improvements and capital equipment installations.
What We Are Looking For
We are looking for a Plant Manager who is actively involved in day-to-day operations, visible on the production floor and capable of building strong relationships with employees at all levels.
The ideal candidate will be a confident decision-maker who follows through on commitments, holds teams accountable, addresses operational challenges proactively and leads by example.
Practical plant management experience, strong leadership and demonstrated operational results are essential.
