Plant Technical Leader

Who We Are

At JonnyPops our team is empowered to make an impact at work every day from producing high-quality innovative frozen novelties to spreading kindness onepopat a time. We look for bright and ambitious individuals who seek out challenges thrive in fast-paced and high-growth environments align with our core values and get fulfillment from seeing their work transform the world around them.

Based in Elk River MN JonnyPops develops manufactures distributes and markets frozen novelties. Retailers from coast to coast including Target Costco Publix Kroger and Cub along with thousands of regional and local grocers make JonnyPops part of their assortment.

Growing from a dorm-room start-up in 2012 JonnyPops mission is to make A Better Pop for a Better World! JonnyPops leads the frozen novelties space in innovation and uses simple ingredients with no artificial dyes. Every pop stick includes akinddeed spreading kindness every day.

Why This Role Exists

Our Elk River plant runs 24/7 and every point of unplanned downtime every scrambled part order and every missed handoff between maintenance engineering and production scheduling directly erodes the margin quality and case-fill commitments our 2026 goals depend on. The Plant Technical Manager exists to own that connective tissue leading the maintenance parts planning and manufacturing engineering functions as one integrated system not three separate teams. This role is the single point of accountability for plant reliability: keeping equipment running keeping parts spend disciplined and keeping the plants technical plans tightly synced with production scheduling and the broader operating goals all without ever losing sight of the people and food safety standards that make that uptime worth having.

Job Summary

The Plant Technical Manager leads the day-to-day operations of plant reliability at our Elk River facility directing a team of five a Maintenance Lead Supervisor a Maintenance Parts & Scheduling Planner and three Manufacturing Engineers. This role owns equipment uptime drives cost reduction across parts and maintenance spend and ensures technical planning is fully connected to production scheduling and plant-wide goals. Human safety and food safety are built into every area this role touches not treated as a separate function this is a hands-on dirt under your fingernails leadership role for someone who wants to build a disciplined well-run plant reliability operation from the ground up.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Plant Reliability & Uptime

• Own equipment uptime as the primary reliability metric for the Elk River plant driving root-cause resolution on recurring downtime events.

• Direct the preventative maintenance program across all production lines packaging equipment refrigeration systems and critical facility assets.

• Establish and trackreliabilityKPIs (uptime MTBF MTTR) and report performance trends to plant and operations leadership.

• Champion continuous improvement in maintenance practices adopting proven tools and technologies (e.g. CMMS vision systems HTST equipment standards) to reduce unplanned downtime.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead coach and develop a team of five direct reports: the Maintenance Lead Supervisor the Maintenance Parts & Scheduling Planner and three Manufacturing Engineers.

• Set clear role expectations accountability standards and performance goals for each function ensuring role clarity across shifts.

• Foster a collaborative safety-first team culture that gets dirt under its fingernails staying close to the equipment the line and the people running it.

• Build bench strength and succession depth within the maintenance and engineering team as the plant scales.

Parts Inventory & Maintenance Cost Management

• Own cost reduction on maintenance parts and MRO spend as a core measurable KPI partnering with the Maintenance Parts & Scheduling Planner on sourcing vendor negotiation and inventory discipline.

• Oversee parts inventory strategy to balance uptime protection (critical spares on hand) against carryingcost.

• Own and manage the maintenance and engineering department budgetidentifyingand executing cost-saving initiatives without compromising reliability or safety.

• Evaluate vendor and contractor relationships for maintenance services capital repairs andpartssupply to ensure cost-effectivetimelysupport.

Planning Scheduling & Cross-Functional Connectivity

• Ensure maintenance and engineering planning is fullysyncedwith production scheduling so planned work orders and PMs are executed with minimal disruption to line attainment.

• Partner with Plant Operations Production Scheduling R&D (Tech Services) and Quality to align capital projects line changes and equipment upgrades with plant goals and the annual operating plan.

• Represent maintenance and engineering priorities in plant-level planning meetings (e.g. L10s) keeping reliability work visible and integrated with broader plantobjectives.

• Lead and coordinate engineering projects capacity productivity and capital improvements from scoping through completion on time and on budget.

Human & Food Safety Focus

• Ensure all maintenance engineering and reliability work is performed in full compliance with human safety standards including lockout/tagout confined space electrical and machine guarding requirements.

• Build a proactive safety culture within the maintenance and engineering team including regular training audits and prompt corrective action on incidents or near-misses.

• Ensure equipment and facility conditions in all areas under this roles ownership support rather than compromise foodsafetyand sanitation standards.

Food Safety Responsibilities

• Ensure all maintenance repair and engineering work performed on production equipment and facilitiesprotectsfood safety sanitation and allergen control standards (SQF GMP HACCP).

• Partner with FSQA leadership on equipment design repair and maintenance decisions that affect product contact surfaces sanitation access or contamination risk.

• Support audits and inspections of maintenance and engineering practices addressing any food safety findings promptly and thoroughly.

Minimum Qualifications

Education

• Bachelors degree in Mechanical Industrial or Electrical Engineering Engineering Technology or a related field or equivalent hands-on experience in lieu of degree.

Experience

• 710 years of progressive experience in plant maintenance reliability or engineering leadership within a manufacturing environment; food beverage or CPG manufacturingstronglypreferred.

• Proven experience leading a multi-discipline team (maintenance planning/scheduling engineering) in a fast-paced 24/7 production environment.

• Demonstratedtrack recordof improving uptime and reducing maintenance/partscosts with measurable results.

• Experience managing a maintenance and engineering department budget and capital project execution.

Skills & Competencies

• Working knowledge of a CMMS platform () for work order management PM scheduling and parts inventory tracking.

• Strong understanding of mechanical electrical and refrigeration systems used in food manufacturing (packaging equipment wrappers conveyors freezers).

• Familiarity with GMPs SQF and food safety standardsrequiredin a food manufacturing environment.

• Strong financial acumen with experience managing budgets and driving cost efficiency.

• Excellent cross-functional communication skills able to align maintenance engineering and production scheduling priorities.

• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced high-growth environment with competing priorities adaptable resilient and hands-on.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with vision system implementation or other automated inspection technology on production lines.

• Familiarity with HTST or similar thermal processing systems.

• Six Sigma Lean Manufacturing or Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) training or certification.

Physical Demands

• Ability to work on the production floor with exposure to loud machinery moving equipment and temperature-controlled (including freezer/cold) environments.

• Ability to stand walk kneel and climb for extended periods across the plant floor.

• Ability tolift upto 50 pounds and perform hands-on troubleshooting alongside the maintenance and engineering team as needed.

Expected Pay Range

Hired candidates may be eligible to receiveadditionalcompensation in the form of bonuses and/or commissions.

$120000-$150000

JonnyPops offers a competitive benefits package which includes the following:

• Medical/Health Insurance

• Dental Insurance

• Vision Insurance

• HSA

• FSA

• DCFSA

• Life & AD&D Insurance

• Short & Long TermDisability

• FTO/PTO

• EAP Programs

• Paid Holidays

• Employee Referral Program

• Sick & Safe Leave

• 401k

JonnyPops offers a competitive benefits package which includes the following:

• Medical/Health Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• HSA
• FSA
• DCFSA
• Life & AD&D Insurance
• Short & Long Term Disability
• FTO/PTO
• EAP Programs
• Paid Holidays
• Employee Referral Program
• Sick & Safe Leave
• 401k
• Company Sponsored Meal Plan

* Hired candidates may be eligible to receive additional compensation in the form of bonuses and/or commissions.