Syrup Processing Lead

Description:

Butternut Mountain Farm is one of the largest packers of pure maple syrup in the United States. We operate a year-round food manufacturing and packaging facility in Morrisville, Vermont.

The Syrup Processing Lead provides day-to-day leadership, technical support, and operational coordination for syrup preparation and related production activities.

This role is responsible for helping coordinate the syruping team, maintaining consistent operating practices, supporting training and employee development, troubleshooting process and equipment issues, performing enhanced syrup quality checks, and ensuring syrup is prepared and supplied to production safely, efficiently, and to required quality standards.

The Syrup Processing Lead serves as the primary floor-level resource for syrup operations and works closely with the Production Supervisor, Production Manager, Scheduler, Batchers, Tank Farm Pumping, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, and other production teams to keep production moving and address issues before they become larger disruptions.

This is a working lead position. The individual will continue to perform Syrup Specialist duties while taking greater ownership of team coordination, syrup readiness, process consistency, training, troubleshooting, quality verification, cross-functional support, and continuous improvement.

Requirements:

Daily Syrup Operations

• Coordinate daily syruping activities based on the production schedule and current production needs.
• Help ensure syrup is heated, filtered, pumped, blended, and supplied to production lines in the correct sequence and at the required temperature, Brix, color, and quality specifications.
• Monitor tank readiness, syrup availability, filtration needs, pumping requirements, and line demand throughout the production day.
• Work closely with Batchers to ensure completed batches are ready, available, and properly coordinated for production and pumping.
• Coordinate syrup readiness with the Tank Farm Pumping team to support timely movement of syrup into production tanks.
• Work closely with Barrel Wash Team to ensure timely cleaning of emptied drums.
• Anticipate upcoming production needs and identify potential problems before they interrupt production.
• Coordinate priorities with the Production Supervisor, Scheduler, Production Manager, Batchers, Tank Farm Pumping, and other production leads when conditions or production requirements change.
• Provide hands-on support when needed to maintain production flow.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Demonstrated ability to train, coach, and support other employees.
• Strong understanding of syrup preparation, pumping, filtration, heating, blending, and quality requirements.
• Ability to prioritize multiple production needs and adjust to changing conditions.
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently and make appropriate day-to-day operating decisions.
• Strong communication and follow-through.
• Mechanical aptitude and ability to perform basic equipment troubleshooting.
• Good reading, writing, math, and record-keeping skills.
• Comfortable using computers, tablets, Epicor, and other production systems.
• Ability to accurately perform and document syrup quality checks.
• Ability to evaluate syrup using established tasting and grading methods.
• Demonstrated reliability, initiative, accountability, and willingness to support changing production needs.
• Ability to communicate process concerns and improvement ideas clearly and professionally.

Schedule Requirements

• Ability to work a flexible production schedule based on operational needs.
• Scheduled hours may begin as early as 4:30 AM and extend through approximately 3:30 PM.
• Overtime may be required