Senior Director, Co-Manufacturing

How You'll Have An Impact At Kinder’s: You will work closely with cross-functional teams, including Supply Planning, Quality Assurance, Commercialization, R&D, and Sales to ensure that Co-Manufacturing operations to meet business needs and deliver on key performance indicators. You will participate in the negotiation of supplier contracts, design follow-up practices to monitor performance, and measure realized savings. The Co-Manufacturing Senior Director is responsible for facilitating communication between the contract manufacturer and various internal departments at Kinder’s and will ensure that all contract manufacturing engagements are conducted to the highest ethical standards.

What You’ll Be Doing:

The Co-Manufacturing Senior Director will be responsible for overseeing the company's co-manufacturing operations, including managing relationships with co-manufacturers, ensuring quality and consistency in production, and driving continuous improvement in manufacturing processes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and manage the Monthly/Quarterly/Annual Co Packer Review processes for your co-manufacturing partners, monitor performance and drive quality, efficiency, cost and case fill improvements with the vendor through implementation of KPI’s and score cards.
• With input from FSQA, PD, Commercialization, Sourcing, Planning, Customer Services and Finance, evaluate the operations and management teams, financial structure, and potential risks at each facility. Make internal recommendations/presentations for new products or transitions of existing products.
• Establish and maintain contract manufacturing relationships. Act as a single point of contact for the supplier on production qualifications, quality/supply issues and KPIs. Be the tactical business link between the Co-Manufacturer and Kinder’s.
• Work with Vendors, PD and Commercialization department to analyze manufacturability of new products, recommending changes that will facilitate efficient manufacturing and lower costs. Develop processes to ensure that products can be commercially reproduced.
• Model theoretical and actual (OEE) at your co-packers. Balance availability of capacity against constraints to line time (clean outs, change overs, down-time, other customers’ line time) at the Co-packer.
• Meet with Co-Packers to discuss ways to manage capacity consistent with our sales forecasts. Prospect redundant and overflow capacity and provide recommendations to plan for unexpected sales growth or an unforeseen constraint to supply.
• Ensure quality and consistency in production, including establishing quality standards and conducting regular audits of co-manufacturing facilities.
• Drive and document continuous improvement in manufacturing processes, including identifying and implementing opportunities for cost savings, increased efficiency, and improved quality.
• Stay current with industry trends and best practices in co-manufacturing and recommend changes to the company's strategy and operations as needed.

What You Bring To The Table:

Skills And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of 15 years of experience in manufacturing operations or co-manufacturing, supply chain experience in the food industry.
• Proven track record of managing relationships with co-manufacturers and delivering results in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Demonstrated experience developing and coaching teammates and peers.
• Ability to travel up to 50% of month as needed.
• General computer skills (MS Office, web, etc.), ERP and advanced Excel skills preferred.
• Understand how business drivers such as OPEX, CAPEX, MOQs, OEE, throughput, yield and scrap ultimately affect a deal in terms of quality, delivery, and cost.
• Demonstrated understanding of end-to-end CPG supply chain processes with an emphasis on the technical aspects of food/beverage manufacturing and packaging.

Personal Characteristics

• Empathy, self-awareness, and respect.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to use data to drive decision making.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and external partners.

The expected starting salary range for this role is $190,000- $210,000 per year. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range based on the location of the role. The amount a particular employee will earn within the salary range will be based on factors such as relevant education, qualifications, performance and business needs.