Operations Manager Jobs in Pendleton, SC (NOW HIRING)

Founded over 35 years ago, First Quality is a family-owned company that has grown from a small business in McElhattan, Pennsylvania into a group of companies, employing over 5,000 team members,while maintaining ourfamilyvalues and entrepreneurialspirit. With corporate offices in New York and Pennsylvania and 8 manufacturing campuses across the U.S. and Canada, the companies within the First Qualitygroup produce high-quality personal care and household products forlargeretailers and healthcareorganizations. Our personal care and household product portfolio includes baby diapers, wipes, feminine pads, paper towels, bath tissue, adult incontinence products, laundry detergents, fabric finishers, and dishwash solutions.In addition, we manufacture certain raw materials and components used in the manufacturing of these products, including flexible print and packaging solutions.

Guided by our values of humility, unity, and integrity, we leverage advanced technology and innovation to drive growth and create new opportunities. At First Quality, you'll find a collaborative environment focused on continuous learning, professional development, and our mission to Make Things Better.

We are seeking an Operations Manager for our First Quality Print & Packaging facility located in Anderson, SC. The Operations Manager leads day-to-day manufacturing across FQP&P's extrusion, flexographic printing, lamination, slitting, and warehouse operations, and is the plant's primary driver of continuous improvement, digital transformation, and operational standardization. Reporting to the Director of Operations, this role is accountable for safety, quality, on-time delivery, and cost performance today, and for building the people, process, technology, and data capabilities that will scale FQP&P through its next phase of growth. This is a hands-on leadership role in a 24/7 SQF-certified flexible packaging operation. The right leader thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment, challenges the status quo, and actively partners with First Quality's enterprise Transformation Office to advance automation, analytics, and standard daily management across the plant.

Primary responsibilities include:

Lead & Develop People

• Lead, mentor, and develop department leaders, shift supervisors, and production teams across the plant.

• Model FQ core values; build a high-performing, safety-first culture where team members feel valued, accountable, and empowered to challenge the status quo.

• Own performance management, succession planning, and talent development, including deliberate build of digital, automation, and data fluency across the floor.

• Foster tight cross-functional partnership with Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, Scheduling, HR, and Procurement.

Improve the Process

• Drive continuous improvement through Lean, Six Sigma, and 5S; positioned not as initiatives, but as how we work.

• Eliminate ineffective legacy practices; adopt and contribute to enterprise process standards where standardization creates leverage across First Quality's plant network.

• Implement and sustain Daily Management System disciplines: daily direction setting, centerlines, clean-to-inspect, breakdown elimination, master production schedule adherence, defect handling, and planned stops.

• Partner with the FQ Transformation Office on process redesign, simplification, and cross-plant standardization initiatives.

• Execute cost-reduction, yield-improvement, and capacity-expansion projects with clear ROI and disciplined benefit tracking.

Advance Technology & Automation

• Champion the plant's technology roadmap in partnership with IT, OT/IS, and the Physical Automation leader - including MES, vision systems, PLC integration, and robotics.

• Identify, pilot, and scale automation opportunities across extrusion, print, lamination, slitting, and warehouse.

• Drive adoption of enterprise tools (SAP, MES, Hexagon, POKA, Intelex, ETQ, WinSPC) and evaluate new tools that create competitive advantage.

• Stay current on flexible packaging industry technology - Industry 4.0, smart-factory, and the emerging role of generative and agentic AI in manufacturing and translate that awareness into concrete pilots.

• Partner with Engineering on capital project scoping, justification, and execution.

Drive Decisions with Data

• Own the plant's KPI framework - OEE, throughput, scrap, on-time delivery, inventory accuracy, quality defect rates, and safety leading and lagging indicators - with visible performance management at every level.

• Demand and model data fluency: read dashboards, challenge data quality, use analytics to drive root cause, and hold the team to the same standard.

• Partner with the enterprise Data & Analytics, Power BI / Qlik, and Solution Engineering teams to build decision-quality reporting and advanced / predictive analytics use cases.

• Manage departmental budgets, labor costs, and operational expenses with a clear, data-backed view of levers, risks, and ROI.

Run the Plant (Daily Operations)

• Own end-to-end operations across extrusion, flexographic printing, lamination, slitting, and warehouse (inventory, shipping / receiving, logistics).

• Plan, schedule, and coordinate production to meet customer demand, minimize downtime, and control waste.

• Champion a zero-incident safety culture; ensure compliance with OSHA, SQF, food-contact GMP, and all FQ safety policies.

• Drive quality standards, root-cause analysis, and closed-loop response to internal defects and customer complaints.

• Own warehouse operations include inventory control, cycle counts, FIFO discipline, and accurate, damage-free shipment.

• Lead a true 24/7 operation - be available and responsive to operational needs off-hours, including nights, weekends, and holidays when production continuity requires it.

The ideal candidate should possess the following:

• Bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Engineering, Business, or related field preferred; equivalent experience considered.

• 7+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience, with at least 3 years directly leading flexible packaging, plastics extrusion, flexographic printing, or similar process operations.

• Proven ability to lead multi-department plant operations and drive measurable results.

• Strong Lean / Six Sigma practitioner (Green Belt or higher preferred) with a track record of sustained continuous improvement - not just project wins.

• Demonstrated change leadership: has led through significant processes, technology, or cultural transitions.

• Data-fluent: comfortable with dashboards, analytics, and data-driven decision making; able to challenge data quality and reporting integrity.

• Working knowledge of ERP (SAP preferred), MES platforms, and production scheduling tools.

• Excellent problem-solving, decision-making, and analytical skills.

• Strong interpersonal, communication, and influencing skills across all levels of the organization.

• Thrives in a fast-paced, growth-oriented, 24/7 environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with blown film extrusion, flexographic printing (expanded color gamut), solventless lamination, and automated slitting.

• SQF or equivalent food-safety standards experience in a packaging environment.

• Demonstrated experience deploying or scaling automation - robotics, vision systems, MES, PLC integration.

• Exposure to Industry 4.0 / smart-factory concepts with real-world deployment experience.

• Experience leading plant-level transformation programs or multi-plant standardization efforts.

What We Offer You

We believe that by continuously improving the quality of our benefits, we can help to raise the quality of life for our team members and their families. At First Quality you will receive:

• Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities

• Paid time off (three-week minimum)

• Medical, dental and vision starting day one

• 401(k) with employer match

• Paid parental leave

• Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $2500)

• Bundle of joy benefit (years' worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby)

• Tuition assistance

• Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums

• ...and more!