Dir, Bakery

ARYZTA is a global baking company with a Passion for Good Food. We provide our retail and foodservice customers with a portfolio of bakery solutions so they can deliver memorable, delicious food to consumers. With operations in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, ARYZTA has become a global leader in the baked goods industry and one of the largest specialty bakery companies in the world. Our leading bakery brands in North America include La Brea Bakery®, Otis Spunkmeyer®, and Oakrun Farm Bakery®. We have 58 state-of-the-art bakeries and kitchens around the globe, with 24 of those in North America, and are committed to driving innovation, predicting upcoming consumer trends and flavors, and exceeding our customers’ expectations. The Americas team champions the values of Integrity, Ownership, Customer Focus, Creativity and Care to help us deliver on People Safety, Food Safety, Quality and Collaboration.

ARYZTA Americas operates one of the largest specialty bakery businesses servicing all major customers in the retail, foodservice, QSR and convenience store channels.

The Americas Structure includes four operating Business Units: Brazil, Canada, ARYZTA US Baking Solutions and ARYZTA US Consumer Foods, which are serviced by the Americas Central Support Functions covering areas such as Food Safety & Quality Assurance, Environmental Health & Safety, Sustainability, HR, Legal, IT, Finance Shared Services, Procurement, Category Management, and Commercialization.

Location: Chicago, IL

Position Purpose

Plans, directs, monitors and or coordinate through department managers and supervisors overall bakery operations activities which include finance, production, manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, materials, quality assurance, continuous improvement, and safety to produce the highest quality food at the lowest possible cost. Creates and implements processes that minimize production costs and waste while maximizing production output. Recommends methods to improve safety, productivity, quality, and efficiency of operations. Ensures adherence to corporate policies and procedures, and regulatory compliance. Oversees third party audits.

Scope/Complexity/Supervisory Responsibilities

Establishes operational objectives and assignments. Delegates assignments to managers. Responsible for implementing company policies which affect immediate operation(s) and may also have company-wide effect. Works on complex problems where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth evaluation of various factors. Exercises judgment within broadly defined practices and policies in selecting methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results. Ensures budgets, schedules, and performance requirements are met.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:


Education, Technical Qualifications, Experience and Competencies Proficiency Level Required

• Bachelor’s Degree (Business, Engineering, Operation Management, Finance) preferred and 7 years food manufacturing experience, including managerial experience OR Associates Degree (Business, Engineering, Operation Management, Finance) and 10 years of food manufacturing experience, including managerial experience
• Quality, accounting, engineering or production background in food manufacturing
• Excellent leadership, communications and team building skills
• General knowledge of process equipment and regulatory compliance
• Excellent P&L and budgeting experience
• Good writing, mathematics, analytical and critical thinking skills
• Basic accounting knowledge
• Computer literate with proficiency in spreadsheet and word applications

Preferred

• Ability to take a global approach to business
• Ability to manage vendors at the local level
• Experience working in a union environment and experience with union contract administration

Physical Requirements

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Regularly required to stand, walk and climb for extended periods of time.
• Use a computer keyboard and monitor more than 25% of total work time.

Work Environment

• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• The employee occasionally works near moving mechanical parts and in outside weather conditions, and is occasionally exposed to traffic hazards, wet and/or humid conditions, fumes or airborne particles, and extreme cold.
• While performing the duties of this position, the employee is subject to a warehouse and walk-in freezer environment where temperatures can vary from extreme cold to very warm.
• The noise level in the work environment is often moderate to loud.

ARYZTA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.