Facility Operations Director (Cannabis Production)

This role is critical to the company’s continued growth and drive toward being the best operational company in the cannabis industry.  The Facility Operations Director is fully responsible for the day-to-day operations of one of the company’s grow & processing (GP) facilities.  At the Director level, the individual will lead a facility with significant headcount (~100+), capital equipment and revenue production expectations.  The Facility Director is expected to be a strategic leader with the ability to create business plans and models intended to maximize facility output and minimize overhead costs and costs of goods sold. This role will be charged with full P&L responsibility for the facility and, in certain locations, may also be responsible for managing a co-located retail “tenant” operation as well.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

• Manage facility staff including scheduling, basic time off requests etc.
• Hire line managers and supervisors according to the facility’s capabilities and needs and in coordination with operations leadership
• Oversee all aspects of staffing at the assigned GP coordinating for new headcount with the Regional VP of Operations
• Interface with Sales to understand output requirements, deliver products as ordered, resolve issues with orders, and help ensure ongoing strong customer satisfaction with products produced in the assigned facility
• Manage output of facility to produce the Products and revenue as contemplated by the company’s budget and revenue plan
• Coordinate, communicate and collaborate with Legal and Compliance team members to ensure that the facility is being operated in compliance with all regulatory requirements on an ongoing basis; Work directly with state regulatory authorities and act as the key point of contact for communications from regulators regarding the assigned facility; Be the key point of contact for all inspections and audits of the facility to ensure compliance and effective facility operation
• Ensure the proper maintenance of the assigned facility by working with Science Operations Team members as well as the company’s construction and real estate team and by effectively managing assigned maintenance team members
• Oversee Facility Maintenance function to ensure the proper upkeep of the facility.
• Work with Operations Leadership to determine optimum staffing levels for the facility and then hire to meet those levels; Seek approvals for adding or removing staff from the facility.
• Coordinate with operations functional leadership to make improvements or ensure departmental production goals are met and to oversee the installation of new equipment and training of team members on that equipment and those new processes.
• Provide resources and team members to assist with special projects or equipment, systems or process evaluations conducted by the Science Operations Team; Ensure timely feedback / reporting to the Science Operations Team as requested
• Full, demonstrated understanding of the production capabilities of the equipment in use at their facility; Able to identify when equipment has reached capacity and able to work with operations leadership to determine the most appropriate upgrades to that equipment.
• Understanding of the personnel requirements for one or multiple shifts from their facility, including being able to prepare a workable plan for activating and de-activating additional shifts to fine tune facility output to match market requirements.
• Able to work with Operations Leadership to prepare plans for facilities and equipment upgrades necessary to improve and maximize facility output; Understands and can show how personnel loads can be adjusted and aligned with equipment in use or to accommodate equipment upgrades
• Demonstrable ability to prepare overall and detailed and/or department specific output forecasts in coordination with and leadership of facility line managers
• Strategic partner to sales team within the market that their GP serves including assisting with forecasting, ensuring strong customer service follow-up to drive customer satisfaction
• Able to partner with sales, product development and marketing departments to provide critical input and projections for new product launches or line extensions
• Develop understanding of P&L management and actively work to ensure strategic plan drives P&L results; provide regular updates on P&L performance to Ops leadership and HI executive team
• Strong leader and mentor for GP staff and managers as evidenced by strong employee satisfaction and retention levels as well as the ability of individuals working at that GP to secure internal promotions or to be sought after experts to assist with training other employees or to provide training content or delivery for internal, customer or public facing content.
• If applicable, able to oversee a co-located retail operation, and provide oversight and facility specific support for the Retail General Manager as required, ensuring harmonious, simultaneous operation of both the GP and retail facilities.
• Other duties appropriate to the role that may be assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

General

• Regulations require that incumbent be at least 21 years of age and able to obtain and maintain state marijuana work credentials.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience, especially in the areas of business management or a similar discipline in the manufacturing, food, pharmaceutical, or consumer packaged goods industries; Cannabis industry experience a definite plus.
• Minimum 7 years’ experience working within complex organizations, leading teams of at least 50 or more individuals from disparate backgrounds and education levels
• Special consideration given to individuals with training and experience in ongoing process improvement and change management principles such as Quality Management Systems, Lean Six Sigma, Kaizen, etc.
• Experience with agriculture, indoor cultivation, plant-based extraction, refinement and product manufacturing or consumer goods production
• Experience with strategic planning and maximizing production output from a cultivation, manufacturing and/or production facility
• Experience with order fulfillment processes and systems as well as related logistical needs and requirements
• Demonstrated experience developing cost benefit analysis business models to justify expenditures of capital for equipment, building improvements, systems implementations, headcount changes, etc.
• Prior experience in the cannabis industry highly desirable

Technological Skills:

• Proficient in Microsoft Office, specifically Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint
• Experience with cannabis regulatory seed-to-sale solutions including METRC, MJ Freeway, Leaf Logix, BioTracks, etc., a definite plus
• Experience and expertise with manufacturing or enterprise resource planning (MRP/ERP) software and business analysis systems
• Strong ability to work with business intelligence systems and reporting solutions such as PowerBI
• Ability to quickly learn and use other software systems such as travel tools, note taking tools, reporting systems, expense reporting applications, issue ticketing management systems, etc.

Required Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong organizational skills, especially with documentation, time management, and resource coordination
• Proven efficiency and ability to prioritize and manage time and tasks for self and others
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills
• Highly developed interpersonal and relationship management skills
• Professional demeanor, strong work ethic
• Able to maintain confidentiality
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, team environment
• Ability to initiate and follow through on work independently
• Detail-oriented
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities
• Proven problem-solving skills with ability to analyze situations, identify exist or potential problems, and recommend solutions
• Strong ethics and sound judgment

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Some travel (approx. 25-30%) is required
• You may have to perform work in a warehouse-like environment with artificial lighting and ventilation
• Potential for mold exposure
• Potential for allergic reaction or hypersensitivity to the marijuana plants
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) may be encountered. CO2 can displace oxygen at high concentrations. CO2 exposure can cause symptoms such as headache, dizziness, rapid breathing, and increased heart rate; in extreme cases, unconsciousness and death can result.
• Warehouses are properly ventilated; however, marijuana cultivation produces ozone from the chemical reaction of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, such as terpenes that are given off from the marijuana plant. Terpenes and nitric oxides can be associated with eye, skin and mucous irritation. In some people, ozone can cause decreased lung function and/or exacerbate pre-existing health effects, especially in workers with asthma or other respiratory complications. PPE in the form of respiratory protection may be recommended in certain parts of the warehouse.

Other potential environmental hazards:

• Corrosive chemicals
• Flammable/Combustible Liquids
• Electricity
• Wet Walking/Working Surfaces
• Working at Heights
• Noise
• Emergencies
• Machines and Hand Tools
• Confined Spaces

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to perform grasping, lifting, walking, standing, talking, hearing, seeing and repetitive motions.