Interested applicants can apply directly to Wade Mayer at Wade_Mayer@rainbowagro-us.com.

Title: Production Supervisor

Department: Production

Location:  Champaign, Illinois

Direct Reports: Production Technicians

Reports To: Plant Production Center – Champaign

FLSA Status: Salaried Exempt

Position Summary:

The Production Supervisor is responsible for the safe, efficient, and consistent operation of the production department. This position provides direct leadership to production employees and is responsible for ensuring that production schedules are executed safely, efficiently, and according to established quality and operating standards.

The Production Supervisor is expected to be a hands-on leader who is present on the production floor, understands the processes and equipment, develops employees, identifies problems, and takes action to resolve issues. This position serves as a key connection between production employees, management, quality, logistics, and other departments.

The Production Supervisor is responsible not only for meeting production goals, but for building a culture in which safety, quality, accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement are part of everyday operations.

Essential Responsibilities

Safety & Environmental Compliance

• Maintain a strong safety culture and ensure employees follow all company safety policies, procedures, and PPE requirements.

• Lead by example and immediately address unsafe behaviors and conditions.

• Conduct or participate in safety meetings, inspections, incident investigations, and corrective actions.

• Ensure employees are properly trained before performing assigned tasks.

• Enforce chemical handling, spill prevention, emergency response, lockout/tagout, forklift, and other applicable safety requirements.

• Ensure production areas remain clean, organized, and free of unnecessary hazards.

• Stop work when an unsafe condition exists and ensure appropriate corrective action is taken.

Production Management

• Execute daily and weekly production schedules while maintaining safety and quality requirements.

• Assign employees to production lines and tasks based on production needs, employee qualifications, and available resources.

• Monitor production progress throughout the shift and adjust priorities as necessary.

• Ensure raw materials, packaging materials, equipment, and personnel are available to meet production requirements.

• Monitor production rates, downtime, material usage, yields, and other key performance indicators.

• Identify production bottlenecks and take appropriate action to minimize downtime.

• Ensure production records, batch documentation, and other required documentation are completed accurately and on time.

• Coordinate with Maintenance & Instrument/Controls Technicians when equipment problems affect production.

• Communicate production status, problems, and priorities to management.

Quality & Process Control

• Ensure production is performed according to approved procedures, work instructions, batch records, and quality requirements.

• Work closely with Quality to investigate and resolve production-related quality issues.

• Ensure proper line clearance, equipment cleaning, material identification, and prevention of cross-contamination.

• Investigate process deviations and participate in root-cause analysis and corrective actions.

• Identify opportunities to improve consistency, efficiency, and product quality.

Employee Leadership & Development

• Provide daily direction, coaching, and feedback to production employees.

• Establish clear expectations for attendance, performance, safety, quality, housekeeping, and teamwork.

• Train and develop employees so they can perform their jobs safely and independently.

• Cross-train employees to increase flexibility and operational coverage.

• Address performance and behavioral issues promptly and professionally.

• Recognize good performance and reinforce positive behaviors.

• Develop employees who demonstrate the potential to take on additional responsibility.

• Hold employees accountable for following company policies and established procedures.

• Build a team environment based on communication, respect, accountability, and cooperation.

Communication & Coordination

• Conduct shift meetings and communicate daily production priorities.

• Maintain clear communication between Production, Quality, Logistics, and Management.

• Escalate significant safety, quality, equipment, personnel, or production issues promptly.

• Ensure important information is communicated between shifts to prevent problems from being repeated.

• Maintain accurate production and employee-related documentation.

• Participate in production planning and scheduling discussions.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve productivity, safety, quality, and employee effectiveness.

• Encourage employees to identify problems and suggest improvements.

• Participate in process-improvement projects and implementation of corrective actions.

• Look for opportunities to reduce waste, downtime, rework, material loss, and unnecessary labor.

• Help establish and maintain standard work practices.

• Promote a culture of solving problems at the root cause rather than repeatedly addressing the symptoms.

Leadership Expectations

The Production Supervisor is expected to lead rather than simply direct.

The successful candidate will:

• Be visible and engaged on the production floor.

• Make decisions within their area of responsibility.

• Take ownership of problems and follow them through to resolution.

• Teach employees how and why work should be performed.

• Anticipate problems rather than waiting for them to occur.

• Hold employees accountable while treating them fairly and respectfully.

• Communicate problems early rather than allowing them to become larger issues.

• Work collaboratively with other departments.

• Maintain composure and professionalism during difficult situations.

• Understand that production, safety, quality, and employee development are all part of the supervisor's responsibility.

Qualifications

Required:

• High school diploma or equivalent.

• Previous chemical manufacturing or industrial production experience.

• Previous supervisory or leadership experience.

• Ability to understand and follow written procedures and technical instructions.

• Strong communication and organizational skills.

• Ability to work effectively in a chemical manufacturing environment.

• Ability to enforce safety and quality requirements consistently.

Preferred:

• Manufacturing, chemical, agricultural chemical, or related industry experience.

• Experience supervising production employees.

• Experience with batch manufacturing or chemical processing.

• Experience with ERP/MRP systems.

• Experience with Lean Manufacturing or continuous-improvement principles.

• OSHA or other relevant safety training.

Physical & Work Environment

• Regularly works in a manufacturing/chemical plant environment.

• May be exposed to chemicals, industrial equipment, noise, dust, odors, heat, and other manufacturing hazards.

• Must be capable of wearing required PPE.

• Must be able to walk and stand for extended periods and routinely access production areas.

• Must be able to respond to production and safety issues throughout the facility.

• May occasionally be required to work outside normal operating hours to support production, emergencies, or other operational needs.

Performance Measures

Performance may be evaluated based on:

• Safety performance and compliance.

• Production schedule attainment.

• Product quality and reduction of deviations.

• Production efficiency and downtime.

• Material usage and waste.

• Housekeeping and organization.

• Employee training and development.

• Attendance and employee accountability.

• Communication and teamwork.

• Successful implementation of corrective and continuous-improvement actions.

Overall Responsibility

The Production Supervisor is accountable for ensuring that the production team works safely, produces quality product, meets production requirements, follows established processes, and continuously improves.

The supervisor should be viewed by employees as a leader, teacher, problem-solver, and source of direction—not simply as the person who assigns jobs.

Interested applicants can apply directly to Wade Mayer at Wade_Mayer@rainbowagro-us.com.