Bakery Express – Plant Manager/Director (Future General Manager Track)
Orlando, Florida | Onsite (5 Days/Week)
Compensation: $150,000–$175,000 Base + 15% Annual Bonus + Relocation Assistance
Reports To: CEO
Opportunity Overview
Bakery Express is a successful, privately held manufacturer of fresh and frozen bakery products and part of a well-established 60-year enterprise. With approximately 275 employees operating in a 24/7 manufacturing environment, the company has built a reputation for quality, customer responsiveness, and operational excellence.
The business is entering an exciting period of growth, including the construction of a new 135,000-square-foot, $60 million state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Orlando.
This is far more than a traditional Plant Manager opportunity. The successful candidate will play a key leadership role in modernizing operations, strengthening organizational capability, and preparing the business for its next stage of growth. The position is intentionally designed as a succession opportunity for a future General Manager with full P&L responsibility.
If you are energized by building teams, challenging conventional thinking, implementing better systems, and creating lasting operational improvements, this role offers an exceptional career opportunity.
Position Summary
We are seeking a high-potential manufacturing leader who combines operational excellence with strong business acumen, strategic thinking, and exceptional leadership skills.
This individual will oversee all aspects of plant operations while leading continuous improvement initiatives, developing future leaders, improving operational performance, and helping position the organization for long-term growth.
This is not a role for someone who simply maintains existing processes. We are looking for a leader who continually asks: “How can we make this operation better?”
What Success Looks Like
During the first 12–24 months, the successful candidate will:
- Improve operational efficiency, productivity, and cost performance.
- Build a stronger leadership bench through coaching and succession planning.
- Drive Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives throughout the operation.
- Utilize existing systems, operational metrics, and financial data to improve decision-making.
- Support capital improvement initiatives associated with the company’s new manufacturing facility.
- Foster a culture of accountability, engagement, innovation, and operational excellence.
- Help prepare the organization for broader growth under future General Management leadership.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead all manufacturing operations across a 24/7, high-volume production facility.
- Lead ~275 employees.
- Ensure world-class performance in food safety, quality, employee safety, customer service, and operational execution.
- Oversee Production, Maintenance, Quality, Sanitation, Warehouse, and Logistics functions.
- Establish and monitor key performance indicators related to safety, quality, productivity, cost, yield, labor efficiency, and service.
- Partner closely with Finance to manage budgets, understand financial performance, and improve operational profitability.
- Use data, analytics, and existing systems to drive informed business decisions.
- Support capital improvement projects, automation initiatives, and facility expansion activities.
- Challenge legacy processes and implement operational best practices.
- Recruit, develop, coach, and mentor future leaders throughout the organization.
- Build a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, collaboration, and employee engagement.
Who Will Thrive in This Role
This opportunity is ideal for a manufacturing leader who:
- Challenges conventional thinking rather than accepting “the way we’ve always done it.”
- Enjoys transforming operations and improving systems.
- Develops people as intentionally as they improve processes.
- Makes decisions using data rather than assumptions.
- Thinks beyond day-to-day production and understands the broader business.
- Aspires to become a General Manager with full business responsibility.
- Works well and communicates effectively with all stakeholders from production level employees, to managers, leaders, and up to company shareholders.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, Finance, Supply Chain, or a related discipline.
- Ten or more years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience in high-volume production environments.
- Experience leading complex manufacturing operations involving multiple departments and multiple shifts.
- Experience operating within SQF, BRCGS, GFSI, GMP, HACCP, or similar regulated manufacturing environments.
- Strong understanding of financial statements, budgeting, operational metrics, and P&L drivers.
- Demonstrated success leading organizational change and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Excellent communication, leadership, coaching, and organizational development skills.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in one or more of the following is highly desirable:
- Food manufacturing, Bakery manufacturing, Frozen or prepared foods, Dairy, Beverage manufacturing, fast moving consumer packaged goods (CPG)
- Capital expansion or greenfield/start-up facilities.
- Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma
- ERP implementation or optimization
Leadership Profile
The ideal candidate will demonstrate:
- A visible, hands-on leadership style.
- Exceptional business and financial acumen.
- Systems thinking and a continuous improvement mindset.
- The ability to build high-performing teams and develop future leaders.
- Courage to challenge the status quo while earning organizational trust.
- Strong emotional intelligence, accountability, and resilience.
- The ambition and capability to grow into broader executive leadership responsibilities.
