Production Manager
About Bold Coast Seafood
Bold Coast Seafood operates a 100,000 square foot facility on the working waterfront of Prospect Harbor, Maine, built around a deepwater dock, a buying station, refrigerated tanks capable of holding over 200,000 pounds of lobster and crab, a state of the art processing floor, office space, and a research lab. We supply customers with high quality seafood harvested from the cold, clean waters of Maine, and we partner with the University of Maine on ongoing lobster sustainability research and local science education.
We are expanding into a new vertical: crab processing. This is a new business line for the company, and it is being built from the ground up alongside a significant investment in new machinery and a newly outfitted processing floor.
We built this company on the belief that people do their best work when they feel good about where they work. We address problems directly, we expect people to bring solutions rather than just complaints, and we are honest early when someone is not the right fit for our culture. We are looking for a leader who wants to build a team and an operation the right way, and who will carry that same standard forward.
About the Role
Bold Coast Seafood is standing up a brand new crab processing line, and we need a Production Manager to lead it from the ground up. This is a true greenfield opportunity: the process, the policies, the leadership structure, and the team culture for this part of the business are still being built, and the person in this role will have a direct hand in shaping all of it.
This is an exciting opportunity to bring your experience and build something from the ground up. You will own the crab processing operation end to end, working closely with the Vice President of Operations to get the new processing floor up and running, and building the team, from your QA/QC Manager down to roughly 20 processing team members, that will run it day to day.
What You Will Do
- Stand up the crab processing line from the ground up, including workflow design, staffing plans, and daily operating rhythm.
- Partner with the Vice President of Operations to bring newly installed machinery online and get the processing floor fully operational.
- Build out production levels, competencies, and a pay progression framework so team members have a clear path to grow their skills and their pay.
- Hire, train, and lead a team of approximately 20 processing team members, plus a QA/QC Manager who will report to you.
- Own the recruiting process for your team, including sourcing candidates, participating in interviews alongside ownership, and making the final call on who joins your team.
- Establish and enforce quality, safety, and sanitation standards for the processing floor, in partnership with your QA/QC Manager.
- Develop production policies and standard operating procedures, and make sure they are documented clearly enough that new hires can ramp up quickly.
- Manage production volume and throughput against targets, and report progress against KPIs to ownership.
- Foster a positive, solution-oriented culture on the floor, addressing negativity directly and holding the team to clear, consistent expectations.
- Support onboarding and training for new hires, including required compliance training.
What We're Looking For
- Required: Prior experience in the seafood industry.
- Proven experience managing a production or processing floor, ideally one that you helped build or significantly grow.
- Experience hiring, training, and developing a team of 15 or more production employees.
- Comfort building processes and policy from scratch rather than inheriting an established playbook.
- A track record of managing to production volume and quality targets.
- Strong communication skills, and a leadership style that matches our culture: direct, solution-oriented, and supportive of your team.
- Willingness to be hands-on and present on the floor, especially during the initial build-out of the line.
- A strong commitment to creating a culture of positivity and problem solving
Compensation and Growth
Base salary is commensurate with experience with the potential for growth bonuses.
As the business grows, this role has real room to grow with it, both in scope and in compensation, as the crab processing line matures from start-up to a fully established part of Bold Coast Seafood.
Physical Requirements and Work Environment
- Ability to work on an active seafood processing floor, including exposure to cold, wet, and physically demanding conditions.
- Ability to stand, walk, and move throughout the facility for extended periods.
- Company-issued rubber boots and any required personal protective equipment are provided for the processing environment.
- Casual dress code, with required PPE worn on the processing floor.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance (currently through Aetna).
- Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), per Maine state requirements.
- A growing company where you can see the direct impact of your work and help shape processes as we scale.
Bold Coast Seafood is an equal opportunity employer.