Manufacturing Training Specialist

Vaco is partnered with a food manufacturing company in Austin, IN to hire a full time, direct hire Manufacturing Floor Training Specialist. 

Location: This role will work onsite at the facility in Austin, IN
Schedule: Monday–Friday, 1st shift (approx. 8:00 AM–5:00 PM), with required flexibility to support 2nd/3rd shift and occasional weekends

About the Company

Our client is a well-established, privately held food manufacturer with a proud history spanning more than 125 years. Now in its fifth generation of family ownership, the company has built a reputation as an industry leader in quality and innovation, producing food products found in households across the country. Despite its long history, the organization continues to actively evolve — making this a great fit for someone who enjoys building and shaping programs rather than simply maintaining what already exists.

About the Role

This is a highly operational, floor-based role — approximately 80% of the position is spent directly on the manufacturing floor working with employees, not behind a desk. The HR Trainer will be responsible for ensuring employees across a 3-shift manufacturing facility are effectively trained, qualified, and equipped to perform their jobs safely and successfully.

This role goes beyond training delivery. Our client is looking for someone who can think strategically about the training function as a whole — evaluating what an effective training program looks like, establishing meaningful training metrics, and building systems that drive performance, safety, quality, and engagement across the workforce. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who wants to take ownership of a critical function and grow their career in manufacturing training and development.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary plant floor training resource, supporting food safety, employee safety, and food quality standards.
• Act as subject matter expert for training and employee development, evaluating training needs across departments and recommending effective solutions.
• Partner with supervisors and managers to identify skill gaps and workforce development opportunities.
• Develop training curricula and learning materials, and facilitate engaging, multimodal training (classroom and hands-on) using a person-centered, coaching approach.
• Lead onboarding for new hires as well as ongoing training and development for existing employees.
• Maintain training records, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and related compliance documentation to support company audits; conduct regular plant floor observations and SOP audits to evaluate training effectiveness.
• Monitor, analyze, and report on training effectiveness through audits and metrics.
• Serve as an HR core team member supporting SQF and HACCP compliance.
• Partner with and coordinate training opportunities with outside training consultants as needed.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives and special projects related to workforce capability and organizational development.
• Build strong working relationships across all levels of the organization — from frontline production employees to senior operations and manufacturing leadership.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's degree preferred (HR, training, organizational leadership, or related field); equivalent hands-on training experience and knowledge may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Manufacturing operations background required — food manufacturing experience is a plus but not required.
• Demonstrated experience training or developing employees within a manufacturing, warehousing, or operations environment.
• Comfort and versatility delivering both traditional classroom-style training and hands-on, floor-based instruction.
• Ability to adapt communication style and approach across a wide range of audiences — from frontline, union-represented employees to senior manufacturing leadership.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and the ability to learn training management, HRIS, and learning management systems (prior experience with a specific LMS is not required).
• Genuine comfort operating in an environment that is still building out formal systems and documentation — this is not a role for someone who needs an existing playbook to follow.
• Ability to work flexible hours as needed, including occasional 2nd/3rd shift and weekend coverage.
• Bilingual English/Spanish skills highly desired, given a significant Spanish-speaking population within the workforce.
• Certified Professional Training Management (CPTM) credential, or ability to obtain within 18 months of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

• SQF (Safe Quality Food) knowledge
• HACCP knowledge
• OSHA Authorized General Industry Trainer designation
• Lean / Six Sigma certification
• ERP system experience (e.g., SAP) is a plus

Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco/Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to the individual’s skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, office location and other geographic considerations, as well as other business and organizational needs. With that said, as required by local law in geographies that require salary range disclosure, Vaco/Highspring notes the salary range for the role is noted in this job posting. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses, and can participate in medical, dental, and vision benefits as well as the company’s 401(k) retirement plan. Additional disclaimer: Unless otherwise noted in the job description, the position Vaco/Highspring is filing for is occupied. Please note, however, that Vaco/Highspring is regularly asked to provide talent to other organizations. By submitting to this position, you are agreeing to be included in our talent pool for future hiring for similarly qualified positions. Submissions to this position are subject to the use of AI to perform preliminary candidate screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase within Vaco/Highspring will be otherwise assessed by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco/Highspring does not have knowledge of the tools used by its clients in making final hiring decisions and cannot opine on their use of AI products.