Job Description – Operations Manager
Position: Operations Manager
Industry: Industrial Food Manufacturing / Food Processing
Department: Operations / Production
Reports To: Plant Head / General Manager / Director – Operations
Location: [Plant Location]
Experience: 8–15 years in food manufacturing/processing, preferably 3–5 years in a managerial role
Job Purpose
Responsible for managing and improving the overall plant operations, including production, manpower, quality, maintenance coordination, food safety, productivity, cost control, and timely dispatch, while ensuring compliance with company standards and statutory requirements.
Key Responsibilities
1. Production & Operations
- Plan, organize and monitor daily, weekly and monthly production activities.
- Ensure production targets are achieved as per customer requirements and production plans.
- Optimize manpower, machinery, materials and production capacity.
- Monitor production losses, downtime, wastage and overall equipment utilization.
- Ensure smooth coordination between production, stores, procurement, quality, maintenance and dispatch.
- Implement systems to improve productivity and operational efficiency.
2. Food Safety & Quality
- Ensure strict compliance with GMP, HACCP, FSSAI and applicable food-safety standards.
- Work closely with the QA/QC team to maintain consistent product quality.
- Ensure adherence to approved recipes, processes, specifications and SOPs.
- Investigate quality deviations, customer complaints and process failures and implement corrective actions.
- Maintain high standards of hygiene, sanitation and personal safety.
3. Cost & Productivity Management
- Control production costs, material consumption and process losses.
- Identify opportunities for reducing wastage, energy consumption and overtime.
- Monitor key operational KPIs such as:
- Production efficiency
- Yield
- Rejection/rework
- Material variance
- Labour productivity
- Machine utilization
- Downtime
- On-time production/dispatch
4. Manpower Management
- Plan manpower requirements according to production schedules.
- Supervise production supervisors, operators, technicians and contract labour.
- Set performance standards and conduct regular performance reviews.
- Develop employee skills through training and on-the-job coaching.
- Maintain discipline and promote a positive workplace culture.
5. Maintenance & Plant Coordination
- Coordinate with the maintenance team to minimize machine breakdowns and production downtime.
- Ensure preventive and predictive maintenance schedules are followed.
- Support installation and commissioning of new equipment.
- Identify recurring equipment problems and drive permanent corrective actions.
6. Inventory & Material Management
- Coordinate with purchase/stores teams to ensure availability of raw materials and packaging materials.
- Monitor stock levels and minimize shortages, excess inventory and material expiry.
- Ensure proper storage, handling and traceability of food ingredients and finished products.
7. Compliance & Safety
- Ensure compliance with statutory, environmental, labour and factory requirements.
- Promote a strong workplace safety culture.
- Ensure proper use of PPE and adherence to safety procedures.
- Participate in internal and external audits and ensure timely closure of audit observations.
8. Continuous Improvement
- Implement Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen, TPM or other continuous-improvement practices where appropriate.
- Analyze operational data and identify bottlenecks.
- Lead productivity and process-improvement projects.
- Standardize successful improvements through SOPs and work instructions.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)KPIExpected FocusProduction Achievement≥ planned productionYieldImprove/reduce process lossesProduction DowntimeMinimizeRejection/ReworkMinimizeLabour ProductivityImproveOEE/Machine UtilizationImproveProduction CostWithin budgetOn-Time Dispatch≥ agreed targetFood Safety Compliance100% complianceAudit ComplianceTimely closureCustomer ComplaintsContinuous reductionQualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Food Technology, Food Science, Mechanical/Industrial Engineering, Operations, or related discipline.
- MBA/PG Diploma in Operations or Supply Chain is an advantage.
- Strong knowledge of food manufacturing processes and plant operations.
Required Skills
- Production planning and execution
- Team and manpower management
- Food safety and quality systems
- Cost control and productivity improvement
- Problem-solving and root-cause analysis
- ERP/MIS reporting
- Excel and operational data analysis
- Cross-functional coordination
- Leadership and communication
- Knowledge of Lean/5S/Kaizen is preferred
Pay: ₹75,000.00 - ₹80,000.00 per month
Benefits:
- Food provided
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Provident Fund
Work Location: In person
