Production Manager

Guardian Energy is hiring a Production Manager for the Janesville plant — Minnesota’s largest dry-mill ethanol facility and a top-quartile plant on yield and efficiency. This Way Up has been retained for the search.

This is a floor-and-people job. You will run daily ethanol production, lead operators and technicians, fix problems before they become downtime, and keep safety and output where this plant is expected to be.

The Plant

Guardian Energy Janesville grinds local corn into roughly 150 million gallons of ethanol a year, plus DDGS, corn oil, and low-CI cellulosic ethanol. The plant sits east of Janesville, buys from farmers within about 75 miles, and is part of a farmer-owned, multi-plant group managed by Guardian Energy Management. Predictive Search has worked with Guardian for ten years, including the current CEO search. Retention and operating performance here are not talking points. They show up in the numbers.

What you will own

• Lead, coach, and schedule production operators and technicians
• Diagnose process and equipment problems with engineering and maintenance; cut downtime
• Drive continuous improvement, lean methods, and cost-per-gallon discipline
• Hold the line on safety, environmental, and regulatory standards — audits, incidents, and prevention included
• Coordinate production with Maintenance, Quality, and Engineering
• Track KPIs and report plant performance to leadership
• Help manage the production budget: chemicals, labor, and overhead

What you bring

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering or a related field, with relevant plant experience
• 5+ years in production or operations management, including at least 2 years supervising in an industrial setting
• Ethanol, biofuels, or chemical-process experience strongly preferred
• Comfort in DCS / process-control systems, production software, and Microsoft Office
• A bias for root-cause thinking, not workarounds
• Lean / Six Sigma or production-management certification is a plus
• Ability to work in a running plant: on your feet, around noise and equipment, lifting up to 50 lbs as needed

Benefits

Guardian offers paid holidays and generous PTO, low-cost medical/dental/pharmacy, FSA and HSA with company contributions, employer-paid life and disability, retirement with employer contribution (6% 401(k) match), an EAP, production incentives / profit sharing, and tuition reimbursement.

How to explore further

Please schedule a ½ hour introductory phone call with Lee to discuss the opportunity in detail and see if it is a next step that aligns for you. Intro call scheduling link:

You can always reach out to Lee via InMail or |