VP Operations

Interested in bringing your leadership skills to evolve and enhance efficiency, safety, and throughput in a fast-paced, growing environment within a family-owned food manufacturing business?

Looking for opportunity to be empowered to get things done through thinking outside of the box?

Is a focus on aligning a highly dedicated team, processes, and strategy to achieve continuous improvement your strength?

Are you a culture shaping leader looking to join a people first environment?

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Paradise Tomato Kitchens was founded in 1992 with the vision to bring innovative sauces, packaging, and services to the foodservice industry. Three plant locations make up the Paradise footprint, two in Louisville, Ky and one in Los Banos, CA. Paradise, pioneers of the pouch as a package, increases food service supply chain efficiencies with packaging innovation through a national manufacturing presence.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING

Reporting to the President, the VP of Operations is to be responsible and accountable for all Operational Groups within the Company, including Production, Scheduling, Procurement, Maintenance & Engineering, and Supply Chain. The VP of Operations will develop and execute a long-term operating strategy focused on delivery of high quality, innovative processes and packaging, with the highest efficiencies and best employee safety in the industry. Providing day-to-day leadership and management guidance to ensure the company’s organizational structure, policies, operations, and people enable the company to achieve business goals and maximize financial results.

Keeping the company’s high-level strategy front-and-center while understanding the details of day-to-day execution to ensure what needs to happen does happen.

Develop People, Talent, and Organizational Strength

• Championing talent development by identifying high‑potential team members, providing coaching and meaningful feedback, and ensuring individuals have opportunities aligned with their strengths and aspirations.
• Modeling servant leadership, removing barriers, fostering psychological safety, and empowering teams to make decisions and take ownership of their work.
• Building strong, trust‑based relationships across all levels of the organization, reinforcing a culture of respect, accountability, and open communication.
• Driving organizational resilience through robust succession planning, leadership readiness development, and intentional capability‑building to support future growth.
• Promoting a culture of continuous learning, encouraging curiosity, humility, and an adaptive mindset in response to evolving business needs.

People and Food Safety Leadership

• Champion a Safety‑First culture, uphold ethical business practices, and model commitment to ongoing improvement.
• Actively protecting others’ and our products’ well-being, ensuring compliance with people and food safety operating procedures, and inspiring others’ commitment to create and maintain a safe work environment for our people and our products
• Sets clear expectations for safety and food‑safety practices, ensures proper execution, and immediately addresses unsafe behaviors or hazards

Optimize Resources and Deliver Results

• Prioritize initiatives, allocate resources effectively, and make informed decisions that support long‑term company success based on an analysis of systemic information and consideration of resources, market drivers, organizational values, and emerging economic, technological, and regulatory conditions.
• Analyzes qualitative and quantitative data to define the most relevant organizational problems and opportunities; compares, contrasts, and combines information to understand system interdependencies, systemwide trends, issues, and cause-effect relationships.

Drive Strategic and Financial Alignment

• Collaborate with Finance and leadership to set and execute strategic, data‑driven goals that address competitive, regulatory, and market demands.
• Demonstrates a keen understanding of basic business operations and the organizational levers (systems, processes, departments, functions) that drive profitable growth; draws from personal experience to quickly evaluate business plans and processes to identify data or recommendations that need further investigation.

IDEAL CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s Degree required
• Master’s degree in business is preferred.
• Brings 10+ years of senior‑level executive leadership in food manufacturing, industrial food supply, or related industries, leveraging extensive first‑hand operational experience to lead complex organizations and mentor executive teams with authority and practical insight.
• Proven track record of rising through plant operations, quality, or supply chain roles, giving the candidate deep, on‑the‑ground understanding of production, safety, and efficiency—enabling them to coach leaders, problem‑solve, and drive performance with credibility and real‑world expertise.
• A career history of leadership in creating sustainable businesses both in profit and growth and executive team collaboration.
• Working within and/or managing public and privately held organizations, as our customers and vendors are publicly held companies. Ability to adapt to and manage evolving circumstances and apply your skills within a changing organizational structure.
• Proven track record of improved KPI’s, plant efficiencies and a hands-on leader
• Visionary and Champion of Continuous Improvement Processes and People
• Self-Motivated and is a proponent of developing others to success
• Demonstrated experience in addressing multi-site operational and financial team challenges from a mix of experience with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Practice on the floor/in the plant leadership.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

KEY PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

Energizer within the organization

• Motivating increased employee effort by communicating a compelling view of the organization’s purpose and its future state in a way that helps others understand the importance of their contributions and feel how outcomes will be different when progress is achieved.
• Demonstrate strong interpersonal and communication skills by motivating others, presenting ideas clearly, and fostering inclusive dialogue.

Business Savvy

• Brings a keen understanding of basic business operations and the organizational levers (systems, processes, departments, functions) that drive profitable growth to the table; draws from personal experience to quickly evaluate business plans and processes to identify data or recommendations that need further investigation.

Strong leadership presence

• Leverages environmental support and removes development barriers; advocates for individuals to higher levels of management to create development opportunities; provides guidance and positive models; seeks suggestions for improving performance; collaboratively creates development plans that include activities targeted to specific goals.
• Helps people feel valued and included in coaching and development discussions by expressing confidence in their ability to excel, maintaining their self-esteem, empathizing, and disclosing own position.

THE PAYOFF

• Opportunity to lead change in the food service industry, one pouch at a time.

OUR COMMITMENT TO CANDIDATES

• Gilman Partners is committed to strengthening leadership teams and elevating talent in our communities—and that means all qualified applicants will receive consideration. You do not have to meet every qualification in this job description to apply. If you’re drawn to the position and believe your experience makes you a good fit, we encourage you to apply.

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