Plant Manager

Food Manufacturing
York Region (On-Site)
Salary: $130,000-$150,000 range plus bonus.

Our client is a well-established food manufacturing organization seeking a Plant Manager to lead one of its key operations. This is a highly visible leadership role with full accountability for plant performance, safety, quality, and culture.

The successful candidate will be a hands-on, people-centered leader—someone who understands that sustainable results come from engaged teams, disciplined execution, and a relentless focus on continuous improvement. This role offers the opportunity to shape culture, develop future leaders, and position the facility for long-term growth.

Reporting to senior operations leadership, the Plant Manager will assume full responsibility for the day-to-day and strategic performance of the facility, leading unionized teams across production, maintenance, sanitation, warehouse/logistics, and quality.

Key accountabilities include:

• Providing strong, visible leadership across all plant functions, fostering accountability, trust, and collaboration
• Creating and sustaining a culture of food safety, quality excellence, and workplace safety, ensuring compliance with BRC, HACCP, GMP, and Health & Safety regulations
• Delivering operational performance against key metrics including efficiency, yield, cost, waste, labour utilization, and service levels
• Leading, coaching, and developing supervisors and managers; building a high-performing pipeline of talent
• Partnering cross-functionally with Quality, Supply Chain, R&D, HR, and Finance to support business priorities and new product introductions
• Overseeing production planning, capacity management, and forecasting in alignment with customer demand
• Driving Continuous Improvement initiatives, including Lean manufacturing, automation, and reliability-focused maintenance practices
• Managing the plant operating budget, with accountability for labour, materials, utilities, waste, and maintenance spend
• Navigating labour relations effectively within a unionized environment, balancing performance expectations with a respectful, people-first approach
• Supporting capital projects, operational readiness for growth, and future expansion initiatives
• Acting as a credible, professional representative of the plant with suppliers, auditors, and regulatory bodies

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will be measured through:

• Consistent achievement of operational KPIs (efficiency, yield, cost-per-unit, labour utilization)
• Strong food safety and quality outcomes, including audit performance
• Reduced downtime, waste, and rework
• High levels of employee engagement, retention, and bench strength
• A safe workplace with strong leading and lagging safety indicators
• Effective cost control and budget adherence

The ideal candidate will bring a strong blend of operational discipline, emotional intelligence, and leadership maturity.

Required experience and attributes include:

• 7–10+ years of progressive leadership experience in food manufacturing, including senior plant-level responsibility
• Proven success leading operations in a unionized manufacturing environment
• Background in bakery, fresh/frozen foods, or CPG manufacturing strongly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to lead end-to-end plant operations including production, maintenance, warehouse, and quality
• Track record of delivering Continuous Improvement, Lean, and automation initiatives
• Solid understanding of production planning, ERP systems, forecasting, and inventory management
• Sound financial acumen with experience managing operating budgets
• Strong working knowledge of BRC, HACCP, GMP, and occupational health & safety requirements
• A visible, communicative leader who connects well within a diverse, multicultural workforce
• Calm, practical approach to change management and problem-solving

About De Lacy Executive Recruitment: De Lacy Executive Recruitment provides professional recruitment services for employers and candidates in Agriculture and Food & Beverage Processing. Our dedicated team is committed to exceeding expectations and delivering results. For more information about our services, please call 800.672.8552 or email advisor@delacyexecutive.com.