PRODUCTION MANAGER
Location: Woodstock, ON
Salary: $90,000–$100,000/year
Job Type: Permanent, Full-Time
Industry: Nutraceutical / Food Production
ABOUT US
STRIVE is a specialist recruitment firm offering proactive recruitment solutions in the areas of Accounting & Finance, Corporate Administration, Manufacturing & Operations, Special Projects and Technology.
We are currently working with a growing organization in the nutraceutical industry that is looking for an experienced Production Manager to join its operations team in Woodstock, Ontario.
THE ROLE
If you are an experienced Production Manager who enjoys being hands-on with your team, developing frontline leaders, and driving continuous improvement, this is an excellent opportunity to take ownership of a large portion of a growing production operation.
The Production Manager will oversee multiple processing and packaging areas, including dispensing, blending, encapsulation, inspection, and filling/packaging operations.
This position will directly manage Production Supervisors while coaching and developing Supervisors and Team Leaders across the operation. The successful candidate will be responsible for improving production efficiency, OEE, staffing, quality, yield, cost containment, and rework, while ensuring the operation maintains strong safety, food safety, quality, and cGMP standards.
This organization is continuing to grow, making this a strong opportunity for someone who wants to have a measurable impact on production performance while helping develop the leadership team around them.
ADVANTAGES
- Salary: $90,000–$100,000/year
- Permanent, full-time opportunity
- Performance-based and discretionary bonus opportunities
- Comprehensive benefits package
- Growing organization with continued expansion
- High-impact production leadership position
- Opportunity to coach and develop Production Supervisors and Team Leaders
- Strong focus on Lean methodologies and continuous improvement
- Significant autonomy and ownership over production performance
- Cross-functional exposure to Quality, Maintenance, Warehouse, HR, and Scheduling
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Oversee day-to-day production operations across dispensing, blending, encapsulation, inspection, filling, and packaging areas
- Directly manage, coach, and develop Production Supervisors and support the development of Team Leaders
- Ensure production activities meet established requirements for safety, quality, food safety, sanitation, output, and cGMP compliance
- Monitor production processes to ensure product specifications, quality standards, and production targets are consistently achieved
- Evaluate staffing levels, employee placement, training requirements, and overall operational efficiency
- Maintain an audit-ready production environment for regulatory requirements and customer visits
- Identify production bottlenecks and implement solutions to improve productivity, quality, yield, and throughput
- Develop, track, and manage production KPIs, including OEE, schedule adherence, safety, quality, output, and rework
- Use production data and OEE results to identify opportunities to optimize equipment and processing lines
- Drive Lean and continuous improvement initiatives throughout production
- Identify opportunities to reduce operating costs through improved processes, equipment, workflows, and production techniques
- Partner closely with Quality, Maintenance, Warehouse, Scheduling, and HR to resolve operational issues
- Work with HR on staffing, training, employee performance, attendance, and development
- Lead performance-management discussions and regular one-on-one meetings with Production Supervisors
- Establish clear expectations around safety, quality, productivity, professionalism, and accountability
- Develop and report on production initiatives, budgets, and improvement projects
- Build a positive, collaborative, and results-focused production culture
- Act as a hands-on leader who is comfortable spending time on the production floor and working directly with the team
REQUIREMENTS
- 5–10 years of management experience within a production environment
- Strong hands-on production and operations leadership experience
- Demonstrated experience directly managing and developing Production Supervisors and/or Team Leaders
- Strong knowledge of Lean methodologies and continuous improvement
- Experience managing and improving production KPIs, including OEE
- Strong understanding of safety, quality, productivity, yield, and cost control
- Experience identifying production inefficiencies and implementing sustainable process improvements
- Strong critical-thinking, problem-solving, and change-management skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of an organization
- Team-focused, reliable, self-motivated, and results-driven leadership style
- Comfortable working independently and taking ownership of production performance
- Post-secondary education in a technical discipline or equivalent relevant industry experience
ASSETS
- Previous experience within nutraceutical, food, pharmaceutical, or another highly regulated production environment
- Direct nutraceutical manufacturing experience, particularly with tablets and capsules
- Experience with powders, blending, encapsulation, filling, or flexible packaging
- Knowledge and understanding of cGMP requirements
- Experience working within Health Canada-regulated operations
- Formal training in Lean, OEE, Theory of Constraints, or other operational improvement methodologies
- Experience working across multiple facilities or production environments and bringing different operational best practices into an organization
WORK ENVIRONMENT
- On-site position in Woodstock, Ontario
- Growing production operation
- Hands-on leadership role with regular presence on the production floor
- Works closely with Production, Quality, Maintenance, Warehouse, Scheduling, HR, and senior leadership
- Ideal for a leader who enjoys mentoring others, challenging the status quo, and implementing measurable operational improvements
If you are an experienced production leader with a strong continuous improvement mindset and enjoy developing teams while improving operational performance, we encourage you to apply.
