Job Description

President – Perishable Manufacturing & Refrigerated Distribution | Family-Owned | ~$100M

Confidential | Bradenton, Florida (On-site)

Why you should be interested in this role:

This is a rare opportunity to step into a President role with full P&L responsibility for a highly respected, multi-generational, family-owned manufacturing business operating in a perishable, batch-process environment.

The company operates a single-site, highly efficient, asset-intensive manufacturing facility with an integrated refrigerated distribution model, supporting sophisticated, high-volume foodservice and distribution customers where food safety, cold-chain integrity, and on-time delivery are non-negotiable.

This is not a turnaround . The business is stable, well-run, and trusted by demanding customers who value reliability over disruption. The mandate for the incoming President is to protect what already works exceptionally well while thoughtfully strengthening systems, developing leaders, improving reliability discipline, and helping the ownership group evolve governance and succession planning for the next generation.

This role is ideal for an experienced operator who enjoys being close to the work, understands the stakes of perishable manufacturing, and can lead confidently in a family-owned environment.

ROLE CTQs (Critical to Quality):

• Zero food safety lapses; audit-ready at all times
• Cold-chain integrity and consistent OTIF performance
• High equipment uptime in an asset-intensive, batch-process operation
• Strong people leadership and next-generation talent development
• Calm, credible executive presence with ownership, employees, and customers

What you will own (end-to-end):

• Operational Leadership & Reliability Lead all site operations including production, maintenance, quality, warehousing, and logistics
• Install and sustain a reliability-focused operating mindset centered on uptime, preventive maintenance, and disciplined execution
• Strengthen PM/PdM programs, CMMS usage, critical spares strategy, and root-cause problem solving
• Ensure refrigeration, processing, packaging, and sanitation systems support consistent throughput with tight process and temperature control

Food Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Maintain and continuously strengthen food safety and quality systems (SQF/GFSI mindset, HACCP, sanitation, allergen controls)
• Lead regulatory readiness in a highly scrutinized FDA-regulated manufacturing environment
• Ensure customer, regulatory, and internal standards are met without exception

Customer & Demand Stewardship

• Serve as the senior executive interface for key foodservice and distribution customers
• Anticipate demand swings, promotions, and seasonal volume changes and align capacity, staffing, and inventory accordingly
• Protect long-standing customer trust through transparency, responsiveness, and consistent performance

Maintenance, Engineering & Risk Management

• Drive an asset-management mindset across operations and maintenance
• Track and improve uptime metrics (MTBF, MTTR, planned vs. unplanned downtime)
• Lead capital planning focused on reliability, safety, capacity constraints, and compliance, prioritizing ROI-positive investments

People Leadership & Succession

• Build credibility and trust with a long-tenured workforce while raising expectations around safety, quality, and accountability
• Develop a deeper leadership bench in operations, maintenance, quality, and logistics to reduce key-person risk
• Design and execute structured development plans for next-generation family members and high-potential non-family leaders
• Establish clear org structure, role clarity, and performance expectations aligned with professional management practices

Ownership & Governance Alignment

• Report directly to the family ownership group and board
• Translate strategic direction into disciplined operational execution and measurable outcomes
• Help clarify governance boundaries between ownership and management while respecting family values and legacy
• Provide fact-based, objective recommendations grounded in risk management and long-term value creation

Business & Financial Management

• Own full P&L responsibility, including margin performance, cost control, labor productivity, inventory, working capital, and capex
• Establish a disciplined monthly operating review cadence with KPIs across safety, quality, uptime, yield, OTIF, and service
• Improve financial transparency around product profitability, customer economics, and cost-to-serve
• Communicate clearly and regularly with ownership, balancing transparency, education, and recommendations

Position Critical to Quality + Success (CTQ+S): Technical Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Food Science, Operations, Supply Chain, or Business required
• MBA or relevant technical master’s degree a plus

Experience

• Typically 15+ years of progressive leadership in food or beverage manufacturing
• 5–10+ years in site-level or enterprise P&L leadership roles
• Strong fit from near-market cold-chain industries , including refrigerated or frozen foods, dairy-adjacent products, beverages, juices, sauces, dressings, cultured or prepared foods
• Deep experience in perishable, batch-process environments with short shelf-life inventory
• Demonstrated success improving equipment uptime and maintenance performance
• Proven leadership in SQF/BRC/IFS or equivalent food safety systems and audits
• Experience serving sophisticated foodservice or distribution customers with high service expectations
• Prior experience in family-owned or privately held mid-market companies is a plus

Functional Skills

• Strong command of operations and maintenance systems (uptime, PM/PdM, utilities, refrigeration, process reliability)
• Solid financial acumen including margin management, costing, pricing, capex ROI, and working capital
• Pragmatic use of continuous improvement tools (TPM, Lean fundamentals, problem solving) as enablers—not ideology
• Comfort with data, KPIs, dashboards, and performance management

Position Critical to Quality + Success (CTQ+S): Leadership & Behavioral Profile

Hands-On, Floor-Visible Leader

• Enjoys being on the plant floor, in the maintenance shop, and at the dock
• Leads by example on safety, food safety, and respect for people

High-Reliability Mindset

• Thinks like a reliability engineer and operator
• Anticipates risk and builds systems that prevent disruption

High EQ & Stakeholder Savvy

• Builds trust with ownership, long-tenured employees, and sophisticated customers
• Listens well, synthesizes perspectives, and brings clarity where ambiguity exists

Teacher & Mentor

• Develops people deliberately with clear expectations and accountability
• Patient, direct, and committed to building leadership capability

Calm Under Pressure

• Performs well in high-stakes, time-sensitive environments
• Communicates proactively and constructively when challenges arise

Owner’s Mindset

• Treats the business as if it were their own
• Prudent with capital, serious about risk, and deeply aligned with long-term stewardship

Compensation & Relocation

• Competitive base salary with performance-based bonus
• Potential long-term incentive alignment
• Relocation considered for exceptional candidates; preference for leaders willing to live in the broader Florida gulf coast region

Who Should NOT Apply: This role is not a fit if you:

• Prefer a corporate or desk-based role over daily plant-floor leadership
• Come primarily from discrete manufacturing with limited experience in batch, process-based, perishable operations
• Have not personally owned food safety, regulatory compliance, and audit readiness
• Are uncomfortable being accountable for equipment uptime, maintenance discipline, and cold-chain reliability
• Are seeking a turnaround, roll-up, or rapid transformation mandate
• Are not comfortable operating within a family-owned business with evolving governance
• Are unwilling to be hands-on and on-site in a single-location operation

This role is best suited for a high-reliability operator who values stewardship, discipline, and long-term performance over disruption.

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