About this opportunity
Clark Resources lists this Chief Operating Officer opportunity in orland park, Illinois. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
The successful candidate will be a hands-on, collaborative leader and trusted business partner to the executive team. This individual must build cross-functional alignment, develop strong leaders, establish accountability through meaningful performance measures, and create a consistent culture of continuous improvement across all facilities.
Key Responsibilities
Lead daily manufacturing performance across raw and ready-to-eat production, packaging, warehousing, and distribution operations.
Drive improvements in throughput, yield, OEE, labor productivity, scrap, downtime, schedule adherence, and conversion cost.
Champion a culture of safety, food quality, accountability, employee engagement, and continuous improvement throughout the operating network.
Ensure compliance with GMP, sanitation, allergen-control, OSHA, EPA, and company environmental health and safety requirements.
Implement and mature Lean and Total Productive Maintenance practices, including 5S, Kaizen, SMED, standard work, visual management, and structured problem-solving.
Maintain executive accountability for USDA/FSIS compliance, HACCP, SSOPs, audit readiness, and third-party food-safety certifications such as SQF/GFSI.
Partner with Quality and FSQA leaders to strengthen preventive controls, sanitation performance, regulatory compliance, and customer quality results.
Lead effective corrective and preventive action, root-cause analysis, and resolution of regulatory, audit, and customer issues.
Lead the S&OP process to align demand, capacity, production, inventory, and service expectations across the organization.
Deliver OTIF/DIFOT, case-fill, inventory, and working-capital objectives while maintaining production flexibility and customer service.
Oversee procurement of meat, ingredients, packaging, and other critical materials, along with inbound quality and supplier performance.
Ensure cold-chain integrity and optimize warehousing, transportation, and logistics-network performance.
Improve ERP/MRP utilization, master-data integrity, performance reporting, and operational decision-making.
Serve as a trusted partner to the President and executive leadership team, translating strategic priorities into measurable operating plans.
Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, and R&D on portfolio mix, customer programs, cost-to-serve, capacity planning, and new product introductions.
Align workforce strategy with business needs, including organizational design, skills development, succession planning, engagement, retention, and labor relations.
Build, coach, and retain high-performing leaders while creating clear expectations and accountability across functions and facilities.
Own operational P&L levers and deliver EBITDA improvement through productivity, yield, labor efficiency, waste reduction, cost control, and mix optimization.
Develop annual operating plans, budgets, capital plans, and long-range capacity strategies aligned with company objectives.
Evaluate and justify equipment, automation, technology, and facility investments based on operational need, risk, and return on investment.
Establish and cascade meaningful KPIs, performance-review routines, and action plans across the operating network.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Food Science, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
15+ years of progressive operations and manufacturing leadership experience, including senior responsibility for multi-site operations and cross-functional teams.
5+ years of leadership experience within meat, protein, or another perishable food manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
Demonstrated success leading Plant Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality/FSQA functions across multiple facilities.
Deep knowledge of USDA/FSIS requirements, HACCP, GMPs, sanitation, allergen control, and GFSI-recognized certification programs such as SQF.
Proven record of applying Lean, continuous-improvement, and Lean Six Sigma tools to improve OEE, yield, labor productivity, quality, and cost performance.
Strong experience with S&OP, demand and supply planning, inventory optimization, procurement, logistics, and ERP/MRP systems.
Strong financial acumen, including P&L management, standard costing, variance analysis, capital planning, and EBITDA improvement.
Excellent leadership, communication, decision-making, and stakeholder-management skills with a highly collaborative approach.
Union and labor-relations experience preferred.
Ability to maintain a regular on-site presence at manufacturing facilities in the southwest Chicago suburbs, Northwest Indiana, and Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Willingness to travel periodically to other facilities, suppliers, and customers; expected travel is approximately 25%.
Worksite address
orland park, IL, 60467, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.