Director of Operations
Compensation
The Role
Perricone Juices has joined forces with the esteemed Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company, bringing together two leaders in the premium citrus juice industry. This strategic acquisition combines Perricone’s expertise in craft citrus juices with Natalie’s reputation for fresh, high-quality products. Together, the companies are strengthening their market presence and creating exciting opportunities for innovation, operational excellence, and long-term growth.
Perricone Juices is seeking an experienced Director of Operations to lead and advance operations at our Beaumont facility. This position offers long-term stability and a comprehensive benefits package, including health, vision, dental, life insurance, and a 401(k) plan.
Pay Rate: $150,000–$200,000 annually
Shift/Hours: Primarily day shift, with flexibility to support multiple shifts, weekends, holidays, and on-call operational needs as required.
Position Summary:
The Director of Operations is responsible for leading, coordinating, and continuously improving all plant activities related to production, extraction, processing, packaging, maintenance, shipping, and inventory management. This role drives results across safety, food safety, quality, cost, productivity, customer delivery, and employee engagement.
The Director of Operations provides strategic and hands-on leadership to a multi-shift manufacturing operation, ensuring production schedules are achieved, resources are deployed effectively, regulatory and customer requirements are met, and continuous improvement initiatives deliver measurable results.
This position manages five subordinate supervisors overseeing approximately 60–70 employees across Maintenance, Shipping, Extraction, and Bottling/Packaging. The Director partners closely with Quality Assurance, Human Resources, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and other departments to ensure safe, efficient, and consistent plant performance. This individual will also serve as Plant Manager in their absence, exercising full decision-making authority.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Production and Operational Leadership
- Direct daily production activities across all shifts to achieve production schedules, volume, yield, quality, and customer delivery targets.
- Oversee production planning, scheduling, workflow, processing methods, packaging, shipping, and workforce utilization.
- Coordinate fruit receiving, extraction, pasteurization or high-pressure processing (HPP), filling, packaging, and cold storage to maintain efficient product flow and protect product quality.
- Lead shift-startup meetings and tiered daily accountability huddles, review performance against targets, address production misses, and ensure timely follow-up on corrective actions.
- Manage production changeovers, line balancing, staffing, and labor deployment to minimize downtime, improve throughput, and control overtime.
- Adjust production schedules and priorities in response to changing demand, equipment availability, labor constraints, and raw material requirements.
- Ensure products are manufactured and packaged on time and within established quality, food safety, and customer specifications.
- Establish clear communication and accountability across departments and shifts.
- Serve as Plant Manager in their absence, with full decision-making authority for plant operations.
- Promote a culture of ownership, accountability, and operational excellence throughout the facility.
Food Safety and Quality Assurance
- Ensure every shift complies with the Juice HACCP plan, food safety plan, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), allergen controls, sanitation requirements, and applicable regulatory standards.
- Maintain compliance with applicable FDA, FSMA, OSHA, EPA, state, and federal requirements, as well as customer, organic, Non-GMO, and other applicable certification standards.
- Partner with Quality Assurance to oversee product holds, process deviations, Critical Control Point (CCP) monitoring, investigations, and corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
- Ensure verification activities are completed to confirm that finished products meet food safety, quality, and customer specifications.
- Support the Quality Director/Manager in maintaining, reviewing, and improving the plant's food safety and quality management systems.
- Participate in annual food safety system reviews and routine internal audits.
- Maintain continuous audit readiness for regulatory, customer, organic, and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-recognized certification audits, including SQF or BRCGS, as applicable.
- Ensure compliance with Non-GMO and applicable supply chain certification requirements.
- Investigate recurring quality issues and implement preventive measures to reduce product defects, waste, and customer complaints.
Safety and Environmental Compliance
- Lead a proactive safety culture focused on preventing injuries, reducing hazards, and
Benefits
Estimated- Competitive salary
- Health, dental & vision insurance
- 401(k) with match
- Paid time off
- Bonus potential
