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Plant Manager

$120000 - $145000 per hour | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | On-site | Permanent

Plant Manager - Ethanol, Distillation, alcohol production, or refining experience A bit about us

We are North America's leader in unsaleable Beverage Destruction and Recycling. With regional recycling facilities across the US, we offer national services to the Alcohol and Non-alcohol Beverage, Pharmaceutical, Health & Beauty, and Industrial Alcohol industries. Additionally, we convert beverage liquids and industrial alcohol byproducts into fuel-grade ethanol. This ethanol is utilized by major oil companies as a clean air additive in their gasoline blends.

Why join us

• Excellent Culture and Tenure - Average of 10+ years!
• Offer full medical, dental, and vision
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Life insurance
• 401k with a match of fifty cents on the dollar up to 6%
• Hourly rate

Job Details Alcohol Department Manager

The Alcohol Department Manager is responsible for leading the daily operations, process performance, and personnel within our alcohol recovery, distillation, fermentation, and ethanol production department. This is a highly hands-on operational leadership role overseeing a team of approximately 12 employees while driving production efficiency, equipment reliability, safety, and continuous improvement initiatives.

This position is best suited for an engineering-minded operations leader who enjoys being on the production floor, troubleshooting processes, optimizing yields, and working directly with operators and maintenance teams. The successful candidate will spend significant time in the plant supporting day-to-day operations and process improvements, rather than operating solely from an office environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day leadership of alcohol recovery, distillation, fermentation, and ethanol production operations.
• Serve as the primary operational leader for the department, ensuring safe, efficient, and compliant plant performance.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of operators, technicians, and production personnel while establishing accountability for safety, quality, and production objectives.
• Maintain a strong presence on the production floor, actively supporting operators, troubleshooting process issues, and responding to operational challenges.
• Monitor and optimize key process parameters related to fermentation, distillation, evaporation, separation, and alcohol recovery systems.
• Drive improvements in production throughput, plant efficiency, alcohol yields, waste reduction, and operating costs.
• Partner closely with maintenance personnel to improve equipment reliability, minimize downtime, and support preventative maintenance initiatives.
• Analyze production data, process trends, and operational KPIs to identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions related to production, quality, safety, and equipment performance issues.
• Support capital projects, equipment upgrades, and process optimization efforts across the facility.
• Ensure compliance with all environmental, safety, regulatory, and company requirements.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures, training programs, and departmental performance metrics.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related Engineering discipline REQUIRED.
• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience within:

• Ethanol production
• Industrial alcohol manufacturing
• Distillation operations
• Chemical processing
• Petrochemical manufacturing
• Refining operations
• Solvent recovery or industrial recycling operations

• Demonstrated experience managing production teams in a manufacturing or process-driven environment.
• Strong understanding of distillation, fermentation, evaporation, separation, refining, or related industrial processes.
• Proven ability to lead both people and operations in a fast-paced production environment.
• Hands-on troubleshooting experience involving process equipment, production systems, and operational bottlenecks.
• Experience utilizing KPIs, production metrics, and continuous improvement methodologies to improve plant performance.
• Strong mechanical aptitude and ability to work closely with maintenance and engineering teams to resolve operational issues.
• Experience operating within highly regulated environments with an emphasis on safety, environmental compliance, and operational excellence.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience managing operations within an ethanol plant, distillery, refinery, or chemical manufacturing facility.
• Experience supporting or leading capital projects, process improvements, and equipment installations.
• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement experience.
• Background overseeing both production and maintenance functions.
• Experience with batch and continuous process manufacturing operations.

Jobot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide an inclusive work environment that celebrates diversity and all qualified candidates receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, age (40 and over), disability, military status, genetic information or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Jobot also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories. It is Jobot’s policy to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws respecting consideration of unemployment status in making hiring decisions.

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