Industrial Fermentation Plant Manager

Position

The plant manager leads the successful execution of all plant related fields such as production, CAPEX & OPEX management, staff supervision, work safety, food certification, stakeholder management and communication. Specifically, the plant manager will:

• Lead all activities to produce the target volumes in support of business objectives on time, within budget, quality and gross margins

• Manage and take responsibility for day-to-day plant operations

• Work closely with the R&D/Engineering team, food development, finance and general management

• Continuously improve processes of operations; minimizing cost and maximizing efficiency without sacrificing safety or quality

• Drive Continuous improvement and Process Safety, Food Certification programs

• Design and implement a pragmatic plant KPI reporting system

• Prepare the OPEX and CAPEX budget for the facility and oversee expenditures

• Develop, train and nurture a cohesive team of bioprocess experts, operators, engineers and maintenance to ensure a high performance work environment based on trust, safety and collaboration

• Search, identify, demonstrate, and implement new processes/ technologies/instruments to optimize and automate fermentation workflows.

• Implement rules and procedures and ensure all applicable requirements are adhered to

Experience

Beyond the motivation to join an impact-focused industrial firm, seeking to do well by doing good and scaling up the alternative protein industry, the ideal candidate's background would be best described by the following skill set:

• University degree in Chemical, Food, Mechanical, or Agricultural Engineering or equivalent work experience

• Knowledge in fermentation-based processes

• 5-10 years demonstrated managerial experience in a fermentation plant/ dairy plant/ pharma or chemical site 

• Experience in food safety management

• Hands-on working style

• Experience with budgets, process reports, other documents in MS Office

• Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), Six sigma, lean manufacturing or other continuous improvement tools

• Fluency in English and German is required

Up to 4 rounds of interviews (virtually and in-person) with CEO, CSO, engineering and operational team, including technical questions

Ideal start as early as Q1 2025

On-site presence required

Planetary is an equal opportunity employer actively recruiting for diversity. Through hiring, we aim to close the gender gap, create opinion plurality, fight age discrimination, foster cultural diversity and promote freedom of self-expression.