Director of Manufacturing

Who We Are

At JonnyPops, our team is empowered to make an impact every day—from producing high‑quality, innovative frozen novelties to spreading kindness one pop at a time. We are a high‑growth, values‑driven organization built on operational excellence, disciplined execution, and people who care deeply about doing things the right way.

Job Summary

The Director of Manufacturing is a senior operations leader responsible for end-to-end manufacturing performance at JonnyPops. This role owns 24/7 production execution, safety, repairs & maintenance priorities, and people leadership, while building the systems, standard work, and leadership capability required to scale.

This leader integrates people, process, and equipment to deliver safe, high-quality, efficient production that supports brand growth, seasonal demand, and long-term capacity plans—operating both in the business and on the business.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Ensure exceptional plant performance as measured by

Human & Food Safety

Attainment

Scrap

Labor $/Pop and Overhead $/Pop

Manufacturing & Production Leadership

Own 24/7 manufacturing operations, ensuring safe, efficient, and high quality output

Establish, document, maintain, and sustain standard work for critical manufacturing processes

Generate and lead continuous improvement initiatives to increase throughput, reliability, and efficiency

Leverages production and operating data and other inputs to direct the resolution of operational, manufacturing, and maintenance issues to ensure minimum costs and prevent operational delays

Quality & Food Safety

• Partner closely with Quality department to embed food safety and quality systems into daily operations
• Reinforce quality as a nonnegotiable operating discipline

Safety & Compliance

• Create and sustain a strong safety culture across all shifts and teams
• Ensure compliance with OSHA and internal safety standards
• Proactively address hazards, near misses, and incidents with corrective actions
• Consistently create safety awareness among all employees to prevent safety incidents and achieve company safety goals

Maintenance Leadership and Engineering Partnership

• Develop and manage R&M/Engineering priorities to ensure proper maintenance of the physical plant and equipment for quality and food safety, line up-time, and production efficiency.
• Own preventative maintenance execution and downtime reduction strategies
• Partner with Engineering to ensure equipment reliability and uptime

People Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop supervisors and managers to build a high performing manufacturing team
• Ensure effective communication, collaboration, and teamwork between all plant operations team members
• Ensure clear expectations, accountability, and performance management
• Foster engagement, ownership, and continuous improvement at all levels
• Hire, develop, and retain talent aligned with JonnyPops values

Cross Functional Collaboration

• Effectively partner with Supply Chain, Quality, R&D, Engineering, Finance, and Commercial teams
• Provide operational input on new products, scale up feasibility, and commercialization

Financial & Operational Discipline

• Manage manufacturing budget and operating costs
• Monitor labor, material, and overhead efficiency
• Use metrics and scorecards to drive fact based decisions and continuous improvement

Minimum Qualifications

Education

Bachelors (or equivalent experience) in Manufacturing Operations, Industrial Engineering, Operations or related field.

Experience & Skills

• 7+ years of food manufacturing experience preferably in wet food / dairy products.
• Demonstrated experience working with LEAN Manufacturing Principles.
• Working mechanical knowledge of equipment.
• Must be familiar with GMP’s (Good Manufacturing Practices) and QC standards required in a foods packaging environment.
• Experience hiring, leading and developing an effective production team.
• Must be able to manage multiple tasks and balance competing priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Proven experience maintaining or implementing metrics to measure and manage performance.
• Effective written communication and presentation skills. Ability to influence up, down and across organization levels.
• Strong MS Office skills (Excel, Word, and Outlook)
• Strong planning and prioritization skills.
• Adaptable, resilient, flexible, fast-paced/sense of urgency.

Food Safety Requirements

• Ensure all frozen novelty products meet established safety, quality, and regulatory standards (e.g., FDA, HACCP, USDA).
• Partner with Quality leadership to develop and implement quality control protocols, inspection procedures, and corrective actions to maintain product excellence.
• Participate in regular audits and inspections of production facilities, addressing issues proactively.

Expected Pay Range

• $150,000 - $180,000 annual salary
• Employees may be eligible for additional incentive/bonus programs*

JonnyPops offers a competitive benefits package which includes the following

Medical/Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

HSA

FSA

DCFSA

Life & AD&D Insurance

Short & Long Term Disability

FTO/PTO

EAP Programs

Paid Holidays

Employee Referral Program

Sick & Safe Leave

401k

Company Sponsored Meal Plan

• Hired candidates may be eligible to receive additional compensation in the form of bonuses and/or commissions.