Paper Mill Operation Manager Jobs (NOW HIRING)

About International Paper (IP) NORPAC Mill

From its world-class manufacturing facility in Longview WA., IP NORPAC Mill delivers a broad range of high-quality papers to customers across the United States and around the world. IP NORPAC Mill makes high-quality and environmentally conscious copy paper, packaging paper and printing paper grades.

IP NORPAC Mill is a team-based work environment where individuals integrate safety, teamwork, innovation, and citizenship as core values in pursuit of world-class performance while leading a principle-based, process-disciplined organization.

Relief Team Leader provides front-line leadership coverage across crews and shifts while ensuring safe, reliable, high-quality, and efficient paper mill operations. This developmental role enables regularly scheduled Team Leaders to participate in training, project work, and leadership development while preparing the Relief Team Leader for future mill leadership opportunities. 

IP NORPAC Mill is looking for qualified Relief Team Leaders the Paper Mill department. 

Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Duties and Functions) for On-Shift Team Leader:

• Lead crews during Team Leader absences, training windows, vacations, vacancies, outages, and other business needs.
• Direct shift priorities, staffing, handoffs, startups, shutdowns, grade changes, and response to abnormal conditions.
• Model INTERNATIONAL PAPER/ NORPAC Mill Employee Expectations, reinforce policy and operating expectations, support business decisions, and address behaviors or barriers that prevent results.
• Coach operators, reinforce accountability, support qualification progress, provide timely feedback, and build Crew Coordinator and emerging-leader capability.
• Lead initial troubleshooting; coordinate with Operations, Maintenance, Reliability, and other support groups; support root-cause learning and corrective-action closure.
• Monitor safety, quality, production, cost, and reliability performance and escalate issues promptly.
• Promote operating discipline, standard work, Reliable Methods, project participation, structured problem solving, and practical continuous improvement.
• Enthusiastically demonstrate visible safety excellence and model the behaviors expected from mill leaders.
• Welcome and actively pursue the knowledge, training, and coaching associated with Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) prevention.
• Recognize critical hazards, verify effective controls, encourage stop-work authority, and intervene when conditions or behaviors are unsafe.
• Support Safety Champions, safety observations, interventions, housekeeping standards, and crew engagement activities.
• Reinforce learning from incidents, near misses, and operating events through respectful coaching and crew engagement.

Required Skills and Qualifications of all Team Leaders:

• High school diploma or GED and significant paper mill or comparable process-industry operating experience.
• Demonstrated leadership potential, sound judgment, ethical conduct, credibility, and willingness to make timely decisions under pressure.
• Working knowledge of process operations, critical-risk controls, and safe-work systems.
• Ability to lead different crews, communicate expectations clearly, facilitate groups, resolve conflict, build consensus, and build trust.
• Demonstrated planning, organization, follow-through, knowledge transfer, change leadership, and ability to document work processes and training materials.
• Business awareness and ability to make decisions in the order of business, team, and individual needs.
• Adaptability and resilience when working a variable schedule with limited consistency while maintaining a positive and effective leadership presence.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and applicable mill systems such as Absorb, QIS, Aspen, SNAP, email, and reporting tools.
• Previous relief leadership, supervisory, troubleshooting, startup, shutdown, outage, or project experience is preferred.

EXPECTED LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS

• Be an active role model and accept a higher standard of conduct and follow-through.
• Treat people with respect, listen actively, share knowledge and responsibility, and provide the information needed for informed decisions.
• Hold people equally accountable, reward strong performance, correct performance concerns, and act on feedback received.
• Support Operations leadership and work toward alignment across the mill
• Ensure effective shift handoffs and information flow between crews, departments, and leadership teams.
• Keep crews informed of mill-wide initiatives, current operating priorities, business objectives, and the reasons behind decisions.
• Listen to ideas and concerns, take appropriate action, give positive and corrective feedback, and confront unacceptable behavior consistently.
• Support day-to-day staffing, overtime coordination, attendance, schedule execution, timesheets, vacation or floater coordination, and required shift documentation.
• Work with Operations leadership, Human Resources, and Process Managers to support consistent administration of policies and people-performance processes.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality and professionalism in personnel, business, and operating matters.
• Coordinate with Fiberline, Maintenance, Reliability, Utilities, Shipping, and other support groups, considering upstream, downstream, and mill-wide impacts.
• Build productive relationships across crews and departments and engage the right people to achieve safe, sustainable results.
• Support cultural change, teamwork, learning, and continuous performance improvement.

Pay and Benefits

Salary range for this position is $110,000  to $130,000 depending on experience.

IP NORPAC offers a highly competitive benefit package to include medical/vision and dental benefits, a company sponsored 401k match and additional company contribution, basic life insurance, employee assistance program, paid time off, floaters upon hire and paid holidays.