IT Plant Systems Manager

About the position

The Manager, Plant IT Systems leads one of Smithfield's Plant Systems regional teams in implementing and supporting technology solutions for the Company's manufacturing operations and warehousing. This leader will be a strong advocate of continuous improvement, industry-recognized best practices, and standardization across the organization with a strong focus on leading and guiding the team to provide high-quality technology solutions in support of daily production and ongoing continuous improvement initiatives for our plants and warehouses.

Responsibilities

• Leads a team which serves as the primary liaison between Manufacturing and IT.
• Manages and guides the team in translating business needs into IT requirements for Manufacturing and Engineering projects, Plant cost-saving initiatives, onboarding of new acquisitions to Smithfield systems, requests for new technology and network-connected equipment, system enhancements and upgrades.
• Drives technology and business process innovation for our plants and warehouses to enable front line competitive position and manages a portfolio of services to address business needs within our plants.
• Leads reviews of current business processes to determine where automation/improvements will drive efficiency.
• Recommends innovative uses of existing software functionality to reduce manual effort and maximizes the return on our investment in technology.
• Provides user and management training before, during, and after system deployments.
• Develops and sustain effective Plant Systems management and staffing plans to deliver on objectives.
• Travels to implementation sites, when appropriate, to assist in the on-site deployment and training.
• Works with key stakeholders to classify manufacturing applications and integration points to guide security, support, and business continuity priority.
• Develops and maintain a working knowledge of new technology and bring innovation ideas forward.
• Keeps accurate inventories of systems and IT equipment, and update our knowledge base of problem resolutions.
• Assists the Applications, Infrastructure, IT Security & Vendor Management organizations to drive continuous improvement in internal and third-party support relationships.
• Manages and reduces risk.
• Assists in the prioritization of IT requests, ensuring team is working on the highest priority, highest return projects for the Smithfield organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited four-year college or university in IT, Computer Science, or a related STEM field and 5+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience, required.
• Minimum of 2+ years' experience in a position of leadership to include team development and management, required.
• Manufacturing systems experience, required.
• Experience leading teams that troubleshoot and maintain Industrial PCs, labelers, scales, or RF-scanning equipment required.
• Experience with MES, SCADA, Industrial Automation, Quality Control, Labeling, or Compliance systems, required.
• Effective critical thinking, decision making and problem-solving skills.
• Self-directed with effective analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams.
• Must demonstrate the ability to work effectively at all levels across the organization.
• Must be able to travel up to 30%, dependent on projects and plant support needs.
• Excellent organizational skills required.
• Ability to be respectful, approachable, and team-oriented while building strong working relationships and a positive work environment.