First Key Consulting

The Opportunity

Our client, Equals Brewing Company, is an independent Canadian beverage manufacturer and brand owner with operations in London and Collingwood, Ontario.

Equals Brewing is entering an exciting next phase of growth and looking for a Vice President of Operations, based in London, to lead the performance and transformation of their manufacturing operations.

This is not a corporate oversight role. It is a rewarding opportunity for a hands-on, commercially minded operations leader to build a high-performing organization, improve manufacturing performance and help shape the next generation of Equals’ operating platform.

Reporting directly to the President and serving as a key member of the executive leadership team, you will have significant autonomy, visibility and influence.

What You’ll Lead

You will oversee brewing and blending, packaging, supply chain, quality, maintenance and engineering, with accountability for safety, quality, service, cost, people and overall manufacturing performance.

Key priorities include:

• Driving improvements in OEE, throughput, schedule attainment, labour productivity, yield, waste and manufacturing cost
• Using data, automation and AI in practical ways to improve forecasting, scheduling, downtime analysis, quality, inventory and reporting
• Building the S&OP discipline that connects customer forecasts to capacity, materials, labour and financial planning.
• Strengthening quality, food safety, preventive maintenance and equipment reliability
• Building disciplined operating systems/metrics and accountability across the plant
• Leading continuous improvement and capital projects, including supporting future capacity expansion
• Developing a strong plant leadership team and rebuilding a high-performance operations culture
• Partnering with Commercial and Finance to improve customer service, manufacturing economics and employee satisfaction.

Who Equals Brewing is Looking For

A proven manufacturing leader who combines strong plant-floor credibility with the commercial and strategic perspective expected of an executive.

The strongest candidates will bring:

• 10+ years of progressive manufacturing experience, including significant operations leadership
• Practical experience using data, digital tools, automation or AI to improve operations; must be able to demonstrate how you’ve used AI tools to solve plant operational issues
• Experience in food, beverage, CPG or related process manufacturing
• Strong knowledge of production, supply chain, quality, maintenance and manufacturing economics
• Demonstrated success improving operational performance and leading continuous improvement
• Strong analytical and financial capability, including comfort with cost, margin and capital decisions
• Experience building and developing managers and frontline teams

Experience with contract manufacturing, beverage production, fermentation, high-speed packaging, GFSI-certified environments or non-alcoholic beverages would be an asset.

Most importantly, you bring high agency and ownership. You identify problems early, use data to understand them and arrive with a recommendation. You are direct, practical, curious and comfortable challenging the status quo.

Why Equals?

This is a build-and-transform opportunity, not a maintenance role.

This is a role for a leader who’s excited by the challenge to improve throughput and manufacturing economics, strengthen systems and rebuild the operations culture. Equals also brings differentiated capabilities in arrested fermentation, dealcoholization and non-alcoholic production at scale, with further growth and capacity expansion on the horizon.

You will work directly with the President, have meaningful influence over the team and operating model, and have the autonomy to make a visible impact on the business.

Equals offers a competitive executive compensation package including base salary, meaningful annual performance bonus, and comprehensive benefits.

If you are energized by the opportunity to get close to the operation, build strong teams and systems, and create a measurable step-change in performance, we would like to hear from you.

Equals Brewing Company is an equal opportunity employer. Accommodations are available throughout the recruitment process upon request.