Production Supervisor

About the Role:

Dr. Squatch is scaling one of the largest in-house cold-process soap and deodorant manufacturing operations in the country. As our Brea manufacturing plant continues to grow, we are looking for a strong Production Supervisor to lead daily production execution, team performance, safety, quality, output, and operational discipline across our manufacturing floor.

This role is critical to delivering safe, consistent, high-quality production while building a culture of accountability, urgency, and continuous improvement. The ideal candidate is a hands-on floor leader who can drive results through people, standard work, strong communication, and disciplined execution.

This is not just a “run the shift” role. We are looking for a resilient, high-ownership leader who can stabilize operations, develop team members, improve attendance and accountability, partner cross-functionally, and help build a production culture that is safe, reliable, efficient, and scalable.

This is a full-time role with company benefits based in Brea, CA. This role reports to the Production Manager.

The anticipated base compensation range for this role will be $72,000 to $90,000. Compensation will be commensurate with the candidate's experience and local market rates.

What You'll Do:

• Production Leadership & Shift Execution
  • Lead daily production execution across assigned shift operations, including deodorant and cold-process soap manufacturing, cutting, packaging, and supporting production areas.
  • Own shift performance against safety, quality, output, efficiency, labor utilization, schedule attainment, and housekeeping expectations.
  • Set clear expectations for line leads, operators, material handlers, and production associates.
  • Ensure production teams start on time, stay focused on priorities, and execute to the daily production plan.
  • Partner closely with Planning, Maintenance, Quality, Warehouse, EH&S, and Production leadership to remove barriers and protect schedule attainment.
  • Maintain strong shift-to-shift communication, including open issues, staffing gaps, quality concerns, downtime, material shortages, and follow-up actions.
  • Escalate risks early so there are no surprises for plant leadership.
• Safety, Quality & GMP Discipline
  • Lead every shift with a safety-first mindset.
  • Ensure all team members follow site safety rules, PPE requirements, GMPs, hygiene standards, housekeeping expectations, and standard operating procedures.
  • Stop unsafe behaviors immediately and coach team members in the moment.
  • Partner with EH&S to support incident prevention, safety investigations, corrective actions, and safety engagement.
  • Partner with Quality to ensure products are manufactured, packaged, labeled, and handled according to standards.
  • Ensure quality checks, production documentation, line clearances, and batch records are completed accurately and on time.
  • Reinforce that safety and quality are non-negotiable and must never be sacrificed for output.
• People Leadership & Team Development
  • Lead, coach, and develop production leads, operators, and associates.
  • Build a high-accountability culture rooted in respect, urgency, ownership, and follow-through.
  • Address attendance, performance, behavior, and productivity issues quickly and consistently.
  • Ensure new associates are properly trained before being placed independently on the production floor.
  • Build bench strength by developing leads and high-potential associates.
  • Conduct regular floor check-ins, coaching conversations, and performance feedback.
  • Create a team environment where expectations are clear, communication is direct, and people understand how their work impacts the business.
  • Lead with composure, fairness, humility, and consistency during high-pressure production days.
• Operational Performance & Daily Management
  • Drive daily performance against production targets, labor standards, yield expectations, downtime goals, and schedule requirements.
  • Use production data, hourly output, downtime trends, quality results, and staffing information to make decisions during the shift.
  • Monitor line performance and take action when output, quality, safety, or staffing performance falls behind plan.
  • Conduct effective pre-shift meetings focused on safety, priorities, staffing, production goals, quality alerts, and key risks.
  • Support daily Tier meetings by providing clear updates on shift results, misses, countermeasures, and support needed.
  • Ensure production boards, shift reports, and operating metrics are accurate and updated.
  • Drive a disciplined rhythm of follow-up so issues are not repeated shift after shift.
• Labor, Attendance & Staffing Control
  • Own shift labor deployment to ensure the right people are in the right roles at the right time.
  • Manage staffing needs based on the production schedule, skill requirements, attendance, and line priorities.
  • Partner with HR and Production leadership to address attendance concerns, agency labor issues, performance gaps, and staffing reliability.
  • Ensure breaks, lunches, rotations, and line assignments are executed without disrupting production flow.
  • Cross-train team members to improve flexibility, coverage, and resilience across departments.
  • Hold leads accountable for managing their areas and communicating labor or performance concerns early.
• Standard Work, Training & Process Discipline
  • Ensure team members follow approved SOPs, work instructions, OPLs, quality standards, and production procedures.
  • Reinforce standard work through daily coaching, audits, and hands-on leadership.
  • Identify training gaps and partner with Production leadership, Quality, EH&S, and Training resources to close them.
  • Ensure process changes, quality alerts, and safety updates are communicated clearly and consistently across the shift.
  • Support documentation improvements when procedures are unclear, outdated, or not being followed.
  • Create a culture where the team does the work the right way, every time, even when leadership is not watching.
• Continuous Improvement & Problem Solving
  • Identify and eliminate recurring production issues that impact safety, quality, output, labor efficiency, yield, or morale.
  • Support root cause analysis for downtime, quality defects, scrap, rework, missed production targets, and safety concerns.
  • Partner with Maintenance and Engineering to address equipment issues impacting production performance.
  • Lead practical floor-level improvements that simplify work, reduce waste, improve flow, and increase productivity.
  • Promote 5S, visual management, standard work, and continuous improvement behaviors across the shift.
  • Help move the plant from reactive execution to a more proactive, disciplined, and scalable production system.

About You:

• Required Qualifications
  • High school diploma or equivalent required.
  • Minimum of 3 years of production, manufacturing, operations, or shift leadership experience.
  • Prior lead, supervisor, or people leadership experience in a manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
  • Experience leading hourly teams in a fast-paced production environment.
  • Strong understanding of safety, quality, GMPs, housekeeping, production flow, and standard work.
  • Ability to manage labor, attendance, staffing assignments, line performance, and daily execution.
  • Strong communication skills with the ability to partner effectively with Production, Maintenance, Quality, EH&S, Warehouse, Planning, and HR.
  • Ability to prioritize multiple issues during the shift and make sound decisions under pressure.
  • Comfortable using production data, reports, spreadsheets, and performance metrics to manage the shift.
  • Proficiency with basic computer tools such as Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Excel, Google Sheets, or similar systems.
  • Comfortable working on-site and supporting overtime, weekends, shutdowns, or schedule changes when business needs require it.
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience in consumer products, personal care, food, beverage, cosmetics, or regulated manufacturing environments.
  • Experience with deodorant, cold-process soap, batching, mixing, cutting, packaging, filling, labeling, or high-volume production lines.
  • Familiarity with FDA, GMP, SQF, HACCP, OSHA, and manufacturing compliance standards.
  • Experience working in a startup, scale-up, or high-growth manufacturing environment.
  • Experience with daily management systems, Tier meetings, production boards, shift reporting, OEE, yield, labor efficiency, or downtime tracking.
  • Experience using systems such as Redzone, ERP, WMS, CMMS, production tracking tools, or similar manufacturing systems.
  • Bilingual English and Spanish strongly preferred.
  • Lean manufacturing, 5S, root cause analysis, standard work, or continuous improvement experience preferred.

Leadership Characteristics We Value

• Resilient under pressure and steady during challenging production days.
• Strong ownership and accountability.
• Hands-on leader who earns credibility on the floor.
• High sense of urgency without compromising safety or quality.
• Clear communicator who provides strong shift handoffs and escalates risk early.
• Practical problem solver who can make progress without perfect resources.
• Strong coaching mindset with the ability to develop leads, operators, and associates.
• Positive, team-oriented, and willing to help outside of a narrow job description.
• Data-driven enough to use production metrics to improve performance.
• High standards for safety, quality, people, equipment, housekeeping, and results.

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