Production Operator

JOB DESCRIPTION 

About the Company 

Cérélia operates a state‑of‑the‑art commercial bakery and production facility in Whitehall, Ohio, a 150,000‑square‑foot plant that opened in September 2021 and serves as the U.S. manufacturing hub for the Jus‑Rol brand. Our Whitehall facility specializes in ready‑to‑bake chilled dough products—including pizza dough, pie crusts, puff pastry, and cookie dough—and continues to expand with new product lines to support national growth. 

Team members enjoy modern onsite amenities such as a fitness center and EV charging stations, all within a clean, innovative, and fast‑growing environment. While our Whitehall plant is new, Cérélia’s roots trace back to 1974, evolving from a France‑based bakery into an international leader in dough innovation. As we grow, our people grow with us—if you’re passionate about doing meaningful work with a company on the rise, we’d love to hear from you. 

Position Profile 

Detail‑oriented and safety‑focused individual responsible for operating and monitoring production equipment in a food manufacturing environment. The Production Operator ensures efficient, consistent, and high‑quality production by following standard operating procedures, maintaining equipment, and adhering to food safety, quality, and sanitation standards. This role plays a critical part in meeting production targets while supporting continuous improvement, workplace safety, and customer specifications. 

Primary Responsibilities 

• Inspects equipment prior to start mixing to ensure that is in working condition and free of any foreign material or damages. Document observations on start-up and shutdown checklists on a mobile app or tablet. 

• Ensures consistency on all doughs by adjusting processing equipment to meet quality standards and customers’ specification. 

• Documents lot numbers, raw dough temperatures, and fat percentages communicating to the production supervisor product or ingredient deviations. 

• Performs on line bake offs and verify results against quality standards. 

• Reports any accidents or maintenance issues to the production supervisor.  

• Follows standard operating procedures to operate various pieces of high speed and/or high-tech processing and packaging equipment. 

• Diagnoses and troubleshoots problems with machinery or equipment operation and partner with maintenance technician to resolve issues. 

• Calibrates processing and packaging systems as required to meet required specifications. 

• Maintains clean and organized work area(s) during production. 

• Performs change overs and end of run cleans including disassembly and reassembly of necessary equipment as needed. 

• Familiar with using an SAP based bar code scanner and system is preferred but not required; will train. 

• Logs downtime and other maintenance issues into CMMS system to track and trend equipment breakdowns and production issues for continuous improvement projects. 

• Performs other duties as directed by supervision. 

Quality Assurance 

• Follow established programs, policies, and practices to produce safe, quality foods that meet SQF, regulatory, company, and customer requirements. 

• Perform quality control tests and ensure dough meet quality standards and customers’ specifications. 

• Reports to the production supervisor any issues or suggestions to improve quality performance or the working environment. 

Health & Safety 

• Follows company safety policies and practices fostering a safe workplace and environment for ourselves and our co-workers.  

• Makes SAFETY a priority, while carrying out his /her daily activities. 

• Understands and follows all Lock Out Tag Out Standard Operating Procedures. 

• Reports any unsafe acts or conditions to immediate production superior. 

• Understands cleaning chemicals and their handling procedures. 

• Maintains a safe, clean and sanitary working environment always. 

Minimum Qualifications 

Education and/ or Experience:  

• High School Diploma or Equivalent Preferred 

• Strong math and reading skills necessary; must be able to read, write and speak English.  

• Must have 1-3 years of prior manufacturing experience; food manufacturing is a plus 

• Can work in a fast-paced environment and must also adapt to frequent changes that may occur on the production line. 

• Must be able to follow written instructions in English. 

• Ability to operate machinery and equipment. 

• Basic computer skills and ability to use mobile apps. 

• Flexibility to work off-shifts, including days or nights, weekends, or holidays. 

• Ability to work in team environment, team player. 

• Reliable, self-motivated and quick learner. 

Other Skills: 

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision 

• Interacts professionally with honesty, integrity, and respect 

Physical Requirements 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions. 

• This position requires the ability to stand and walk for extended periods while performing production or warehouse tasks.  

• The employee must be able to lift, carry, push, or pull items weighing up to 50 pounds regularly as part of material handling, product movement, or equipment operation.  

• The role requires the ability to bend, stoop, kneel, reach, grasp, and twist as needed to perform job duties such as loading products, handling materials, or operating machinery.  

• The employee must be capable of working in varying temperature environments, including warm production areas, refrigerated rooms, and cold storage spaces.  

• The employee must be able to visually inspect products, labels, equipment, and documentation, with or without corrective lenses.  

• The employee must be able to operate or learn to operate production and/or warehouse equipment, which may include pallet jacks, conveyor systems, or other machinery, depending on the role.  

• The position may require use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, hairnets, hearing protection, safety glasses, and steel‑toe shoes when working in production or warehouse areas.  

• The employee must be able to work in a food manufacturing and distribution environment where pork products, alcohol, gluten, dairy, and common allergens—including tree nuts and peanuts—are present.  

• The role may involve working overtime, weekends, or varying shifts based on operational needs. 

Core Competencies 

• Creative Thinking: re-examining traditional strategies and practices, and proactively looking for new ideas and ways to improve products, services, and work processes. A Person with this competency looks at problems and opportunities from a unique perspective, seeing patterns and themes that are not immediately apparent to others and taking time to refine and shape a new idea so it has a higher likelihood of success. 

• Information Seeking: Investigates and researches information, digs to resolve discrepancies; obtains information or opinions internally and externally to gain insight or expertise – makes well informed decisions. 

• Initiative:  Initiates courses of action that will lead to improved performance/effectiveness of the Business Unit Team.  Sees a need and takes action to address; questions the way things are done and initiates changes where necessary; sticks with an issue until it is resolved   

• Self-confidence: Willing to take on a new challenge or assignment displaying confidence and enthusiasm; emphasizes the positive and upside aspects of difficult situations – every situation provides an opportunity for learning. 

• Results Orientated & Can Do Attitude: Strives to beat or meet project deadlines; sets own high standards for quality of work; seeks ways to use time and resources more cost effectively; highly organized with the ability to set priorities and multi-task. 

• Team Leadership: Works cooperatively with others promoting team participation as a means to generate more ideas, greater consensus & engagement, and a higher level of commitment to delivering results.  Creates the environment and processes for the team to build its capacity to take on increasing accountability for results over time; building team expertise, skills, knowledge and performance levels; ensures understanding, consensus and input by keeping team members informed about decisions, the rationale behind them, how they align to the overall business objectives and site objectives.