Shift Supervisor - Richmond, TX

Archer Daniels Midland

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Position Summary
The Shift Supervisor is accountable for the safe, reliable, efficient, and quality-focused operation of the Richmond cottonseed processing facility during the assigned shift. Reporting to the Plant Superintendent, this role provides direct leadership to the operating crew, maintains stable plant operations, establishes operational and maintenance priorities, monitors process and product quality, develops operators, maintains housekeeping standards, and ensures effective communication between shifts.
This position works an 8-hour rotating schedule supporting 24/7 operations, including day, evening, and night shifts, weekends, and holidays as scheduled. The Shift Supervisor serves as the primary operations leader during the assigned shift and is expected to maintain a strong field presence, recognize abnormal conditions, coordinate troubleshooting, escalate significant issues, and carry unresolved concerns forward until appropriately addressed.

Key Responsibilities
Safety and Process Compliance

• Lead the shift with safety as the first priority and ensure compliance with company policies, procedures, environmental requirements, operating standards, permits, and safe-work practices.
• Reinforce Stop Work Authority and lead operational decision-making when safety, environmental, quality, process, or equipment-integrity concerns arise.
• Verify critical process conditions through field observations, operator communication, control-system information, and operating data; identify and respond to abnormal conditions.
• Participate in incident investigations and corrective actions as required.

Operations, Reliability, and Quality

• Maintain accountability for safe, stable, reliable, efficient, and quality-focused plant operations during the assigned shift.
• Develop and apply a working understanding of the cottonseed processing operation to support troubleshooting and operational decisions across the facility.
• Establish priorities based on safety, quality, reliability, production requirements, and plant needs; coordinate maintenance priorities and determine when immediate intervention is required.
• Identify developing equipment, process, or quality issues and ensure deficiencies are documented, communicated, corrected, and followed through to resolution.
• Monitor applicable quality KPIs and operating conditions; ensure off-specification conditions are quickly contained, investigated, communicated, and corrected.

Performance and Continuous Improvement

• Monitor plant performance and recurring losses involving production, quality, reliability, efficiency, yield, or downtime.
• Initiate or support Root Cause Analysis when significant events, recurring failures, or performance losses require structured investigation.
• Support continuous improvement efforts and translate plant-management priorities into clear shift-level expectations, actions, and operating behaviors.
• Verify that corrective actions, new standards, and improvement initiatives are consistently sustained by the operating crews.

Shift Communication and Operational Continuity

• Maintain effective communication with operators, Maintenance, Quality, plant leadership, and supporting functions throughout the shift.
• Ensure effective shift turnover, including clear communication of operating status, equipment condition, quality concerns, maintenance activities, safety issues, production challenges, and open actions.
• Escalate significant concerns and clearly transfer ownership of unresolved issues so they continue receiving attention across shifts.

• Provide direct leadership, direction, coaching, and feedback to approximately 5-6 operators.
• Set expectations for safety, operating discipline, quality, housekeeping, teamwork, communication, and performance; recognize strong performance and address concerns promptly.
• Administer coaching, corrective action, and disciplinary action in accordance with company policies and site expectations.
• Develop operator process knowledge and troubleshooting capability; ensure required training and cross-training are completed and skill gaps are addressed.

Housekeeping and Field Leadership

• Maintain accountability for housekeeping, inspections, rounds, documentation, procedures, and routine equipment checks.
• Maintain a strong and visible field presence. Approximately 70-80% of working time should normally be spent in operating areas, depending on plant conditions and administrative requirements.
• Use field time to observe plant and equipment conditions, engage operators, verify process conditions, identify abnormalities, coach employees, review housekeeping, support troubleshooting, and follow up on maintenance and corrective actions.

Key Performance Areas

• Performance will be evaluated through the overall effectiveness of the operating shift, including safety and environmental performance, process stability, product and process quality, production and throughput, yield, equipment reliability, downtime, operating efficiency, housekeeping, operator development, corrective-action follow-through, communication, and execution of plant improvement strategies. Specific targets may change based on business and operating priorities.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Previous manufacturing or industrial operations experience required.
• Previous supervisory or demonstrated people-leadership experience required.
• Ability to lead employees, establish expectations, provide coaching, and administer corrective or disciplinary action when necessary.
• Demonstrated ability to make timely decisions, troubleshoot problems, recognize abnormal process or equipment conditions, and manage multiple priorities in a continuous operating environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and basic computer proficiency with applicable plant operating, reporting, maintenance, and communication systems.
• Willingness and ability to work the assigned rotating schedule, including weekends and holidays as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in oilseed, cottonseed, extraction, refining, agricultural processing, or similar continuous-process manufacturing.
• Working knowledge of process-control systems and common processing equipment, including mechanical equipment, instrumentation, utilities, pumps, heat-transfer equipment, and conveyors.
• Experience with Root Cause Analysis, continuous improvement, or structured problem-solving methodologies.

Physical and Environmental Requirements

• Ability to work throughout an industrial processing facility in indoor and outdoor environments that may include heat, cold, dust, noise, heights, and other typical industrial conditions.
• Ability to regularly walk throughout the plant, climb stairs and ladders, access operating equipment and elevated areas, and stand or walk for extended periods.
• Ability to wear required personal protective equipment and meet applicable site safety requirements.

Leadership Expectation
The Shift Supervisor is expected to demonstrate ownership beyond an individual shift. Success requires communicating, escalating, investigating, and following up on issues as needed to leave the operation, the crew, and the incoming shift in a position to succeed.

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