Director, Contract Manufacturing

Role Purpose

The Director, Co-Manufacturing leads Hain Celestial's North American co-manufacturing network and is accountable for reliable, cost-effective and compliant production through external manufacturing partners. This role owns co-manufacturer performance, capacity planning, operating governance, supplier accountability, risk mitigation and continuous improvement across the network.

The role partners closely with Supply Chain, Procurement, Quality, R&D, Commercial and Finance to ensure external manufacturing capabilities support business growth, product availability, service levels, margin improvement and customer commitments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the North American co-manufacturing strategy aligned with business growth, service, quality and cost objectives.
• Lead the management and governance of third-party manufacturing partners across relevant product categories and manufacturing platforms.
• Own co-manufacturer performance management, including service, quality, cost, safety, compliance, capacity and business continuity metrics.
• Establish and maintain strong operating relationships with key co-manufacturing partners, including routine business reviews and executive-level escalation as needed.
• Ensure sufficient external manufacturing capacity to support current demand, innovation plans, seasonal requirements and future growth.
• Partner with Procurement on supplier selection, contract negotiations, commercial terms, pricing actions and supplier accountability.
• Collaborate with R&D, Quality and Operations on commercialization, technology transfers, product launches, reformulations and network optimization projects.
• Identify and execute productivity, cost savings, waste reduction and continuous improvement opportunities across the co-manufacturing network.
• Lead risk assessment and mitigation planning for supply continuity, capacity constraints, quality events, cost pressure and operational disruptions.
• Support long-range network planning, make-versus-buy analyses, footprint optimization and external manufacturing capability assessments.
• Manage escalation and resolution of significant operational, quality, service or customer-impacting issues.
• Partner with Finance to build budgets, forecasts, business cases, productivity tracking and cost-to-serve visibility.
• Create and maintain clear operating standards, KPIs, reporting routines and decision-making processes for co-manufacturing performance.
• Ensure compliance with applicable regulatory, food safety, customer, quality and company requirements.
• Build, lead and develop a high-performing co-manufacturing team with a culture of accountability, collaboration, urgency and continuous improvement.

Education and/or Experience

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Business or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in supply chain, manufacturing, operations, external manufacturing or co-manufacturing, preferably in consumer packaged goods.
• Experience managing third-party manufacturing partners, supplier relationships and cross-functional operational initiatives.
• Proven experience managing operational metrics, budgets, productivity initiatives and performance improvement plans.
• Demonstrated ability to influence across Procurement, Quality, R&D, Commercial, Finance and Operations.

Preferred:

• MBA or advanced degree.
• Experience in food, beverage, natural products or broader CPG manufacturing environments.
• Experience with network optimization, strategic sourcing, contract manufacturing negotiations or productivity programs.
• Lean, Six Sigma or operational excellence certification.

Competencies and Proficiency Requirements

• Strong external manufacturing and supplier relationship management capability.
• Strategic thinking with practical operational execution and strong follow-through.
• Commercial and financial acumen, including cost modeling, budgeting and business case d