Plant Manager (WA - Kent)

Plant Manager — Kent, WA

Come grow with us at MOJI Food Inc!

We’re looking for a Plant Manager to lead day-to-day operations at our Kent manufacturing site, a central kitchen and commissary producing dumplings, buns, potstickers, noodles, and other food products.

This is a hands-on, working/coach leadership role with full accountability for site performance. The Plant Manager will ensure that our operation consistently delivers on employee safety, food safety and quality, production output and efficiency, material availability, cost control, and team development.

The Plant Manager will directly lead the Production Manager and Purchasing & Warehouse Manager, while providing functional oversight of Quality/Food Safety, Sanitation, and Maintenance.

Reporting to Corporate Operations leadership, this role translates company plans and customer demand into safe, compliant, efficient, and cost-effective daily production.

This role is ideal for an operations leader who enjoys being close to the work, developing a diverse group of employees, solving problems, and building systems that make a growing food manufacturing operation safer, more efficient, and more scalable.

At MOJI Food Inc, you’ll have the opportunity to make a direct impact on our people, products, customers, and continued growth.

Key Responsibilities

Site Operations & Production

• Own the full daily, weekly, and monthly operation of the plant, ensuring production schedules are met on time, in full, and to specification.

• Direct the Production Manager in planning labor, lines, and output against demand forecasts, store orders, and shipment schedules.

• Balance throughput, yield, labor efficiency, and quality across all production processes, including dough/wrappers, fillings, forming, cooking/steaming/frying, packaging, freezing, and cooling.

• Resolve daily operational bottlenecks, including staffing gaps, equipment downtime, and material shortages, to maintain uninterrupted production.

• Lead production planning for seasonal, holiday, new-store, and large-order demand surges.

Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory Compliance

• Hold the site accountable for applicable FDA, USDA/FSIS, Washington State Department of Agriculture, and local food-safety requirements.

• Ensure GMP, HACCP, SSOP, allergen control, traceability, and sanitation programs are consistently implemented and maintained in an audit-ready state.

• Lead the site through regulatory inspections, customer audits, third-party certifications, and mock recalls.

• Champion a food-safety-first culture and have the authority to stop production when food safety, product quality, or regulatory compliance is at risk.

Cost, Budget & Financial Performance

• Own the site operating budget and manage key cost drivers, including labor, overtime, materials, packaging, yield, utilities, scrap, and waste.

• Track and improve cost-per-unit, labor hours per unit, yield, and waste/rework rates.

• Partner with Finance on month-end close, budget-to-actual variance analysis, forecasting, and financial planning.

• Identify, prioritize, and lead cost-reduction and operational-efficiency initiatives.

People Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the Production Manager and Purchasing & Warehouse Manager, and through them, supervisors, leads, hourly employees, and seasonal staff.

• Build a stable, safe, respectful, and accountable workplace for a multilingual multicultural workforce, including English, Chinese, and Spanish speaking employees.

• Partner with HR on hiring, onboarding, performance management, retention, and employee relations.

• Build bench strength and cross-training programs to reduce operational dependence on individual employees and strengthen leadership depth.

Supply Chain, Materials & Inventory

• Ensure, through the Purchasing & Warehouse Manager, that ingredients, packaging, and other materials are sourced, received, stored safely, and staged appropriately so production is not interrupted by material shortages.

• Oversee inventory accuracy, FIFO/FEFO practices, cold-chain controls, receiving, and finished-goods shipping to stores and the broader distribution network.

• Coordinate with Corporate Purchasing and other company sites on supply, inter-site transfers, sourcing, and standardization.

Maintenance, Facilities & Safety

• Ensure effective preventive maintenance, equipment uptime, facility organization, and adherence to 5S standards.

• Enforce applicable OSHA and Washington L&I safety requirements, PPE standards, LOTO procedures where applicable, and chemical-safety practices.

• Lead incident investigations, root-cause analysis, and corrective actions, with a focus on reducing workplace injuries and improving overall site safety.

• Partner with Maintenance and other functional leaders to identify equipment, facility, and infrastructure needs.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Report site performance to Corporate Operations leadership across key metrics including safety, food safety, output, quality, cost, delivery, and people.

• Use of operational data and KPIs to identify trends, establish performance targets, and drive measurable continuous improvement.

• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective-action efforts for recurring operational, quality, safety, and performance issues.

• Support capital planning, capacity expansion, automation initiatives, process improvements, and new-product scale-up.

• Establish a culture of accountability and continuous improvement in which problems are identified quickly, addressed at their root cause, and converted into sustainable process improvements.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience plant or operations management operations in food manufacturing, commissary, central-kitchen, or similar high-volume food production operations.

• Direct experience managing USDA-inspected facilities. Meat processing experience. 

• Demonstrated ownership of a production site's safety, food safety and quality, output, cost, delivery, and people performance.

• Strong working knowledge of GMP, HACCP, SSOP, allergen control, sanitation, traceability, and applicable food-safety regulations.

• Proven ability to manage operating budgets, labor costs, production performance, and operational KPIs.

• Experience leading multilingual, multi-shift teams in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret and act on production, labor, yield, cost, quality, and inventory data.

• Hands-on leadership style with the ability to work effectively on the production floor and engage directly with frontline teams.

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Bakery and food production experience preferred. MOJI Food Inc produces primarily Asian Foods. Specifically, dumplings, noodles, frozen and ready to eat products.  

• Bilingual English/Chinese strongly preferred given the workforce and corporate communication; English/Spanish is a plus.

• Experience supporting multi-site restaurant, commissary, or foodservice supply operations.

• Experience with ERP systems and/or Restaurant365 (R365).

• Proven experience leading new-product launches, production scale-ups, commercialization, or process-transfer initiatives.

• HACCP, PCQI, SQF, or other relevant food-safety certification.

• Exposure to Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, 5S, or other continuous-improvement methodologies.

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, Operations Management, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.

Physical Requirements & Work Environment:  Safety is a priority.

• This is an on-site leadership role in a food manufacturing environment that will include cold, hot, wet, refrigerated/freezer, and noisy production areas.

• Ability to stand, walk, and move throughout the facility for extended periods, including regular access to production, warehouse, and other operational areas. 

• Ability to lift and carry up to 25–50 lbs. as needed.

• Ability to wear required personal protective equipment (PPE), including hairnets, gloves, safety shoes, freezer gear, and other required protective equipment.

• May require early-morning, evening, weekend, or holiday coverage based on production schedules, business needs, and operational requirements.

Salary & Benefits

• Annual Salary: $120,000–$150,000, depending on experience, qualifications, and relevant industry background.

• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance: Comprehensive health insurance options.

• Paid Sick Leave: 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

• Paid Time Off (PTO): Time away from work to recharge and attend to personal needs.

• Paid Holidays: Company-paid holidays.

• 401(k) Retirement Plan: Retirement savings program to help support your long-term financial goals.

• Employee Discount Programs: Access to company employee discounts.

• Career Growth: Opportunities for professional development, increased responsibility, and career advancement within a growing organization.

MOJI Food Inc is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.  MOJI Food Inc participates in the E-Verify program to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.

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