Operations Manager - Feed Mill

Own the safe, efficient, and profitable operation of the Jerome feed mill by providing direct on-site leadership, financial accountability, and independent oversight of third-party operations, while driving continuous cost, throughput, and margin improvement. 

 

Site & Operations Leadership 

• Own day-to-day operations of the Jerome feed mill, including production, maintenance, quality, safety, and logistics. 
• Ensure the facility operates safely, reliably, and in compliance with regulatory, food safety, and Scoular standards. 
• Set and enforce operating standards, KPIs, and expectations across Scoular employees and third-party labor. 
• Collaborate closely with quality control, accounting, administrative, trade, sales, and logistics teams to ensure alignment on production, cost management, customer commitments, and operational priorities. 
• Drive continuous improvement focused on throughput, yield, uptime, labor efficiency, and cost per ton. 
• Identify bottlenecks, waste, and non-value-added activities and implement corrective actions. 

Third-Party Oversight & Cost Control 

• Serve as Scoular’s on-site authority over third-party operators. 
• Maintain all third‑party agreements, ensuring they are current, formally documented, and assist in drafting revisions and renegotiations as needed. 
• Validate work performed versus work billed and ensure alignment with Scoular priorities. 
• Establish scopes of work, performance expectations, and productivity benchmarks. 
• Identify opportunities to reduce third-party reliance or renegotiate task-based pricing. 
• Eliminate unnecessary or bill-driven activities. 

Financial & P&L Accountability 

• Own site-level P&L with understanding of fixed vs. variable costs, elevation rates and margin drivers.
• Understand product-level economics including inputs, yields, processing, energy, and maintenance costs.
• Partner with Traders, Commercial, and Finance to optimize product mix and profitability.
• Develop and manage budgets, forecasts, and capital justifications.
• Translate financial performance into operational actions.

Cross-Functional Leadership 

• On-site lead partnering with Operations, Maintenance, EHS, FSQ, and HR matters.
• Coordinate with Traders, Supply Chain, Maintenance, IT, Engineering, and Finance.
• Ensure alignment between commercial decisions and operational execution.
• Provide clear, fact-based updates to senior leadership.

People Leadership & Culture 

• Lead and develop Scoular employees on site.
• Influence third-party personnel through standards, data, and presence.
• Build a culture of ownership, safety, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Identify talent and capability gaps and recommend staffing or structure changes.

Qualifications

• 5–10+ years of experience in feed milling, grain processing, or similar manufacturing environments.
• Direct experience operating or leading feed mill, pellet mill operations,  and  grain processing
• Demonstrated responsibility for site-level financial performance or cost management.
• Experience overseeing third-party or contract operations.
• Managing multi-department operations, including grain receiving, rail/truck logistics, warehousing,
• Working knowledge of FDA/FSMA, HACCP, and quality assurance programs for feed and grain manufacturing.
• Strong operational instincts combined with financial literacy.
• Comfortable working on the floor and in financial reviews.
• Independent and confident decision-maker willing to challenge when necessary.
• High integrity and trusted judgment.
• Clear communicator able to explain operational realities to non-operators.

Preferred

• Previous role as Plant Manager, Site Manager, Operations Manager, or Plant General Manager.
• Hands