Paper Machine Manager

THE COMPANY                                                                                  

Little Rapids Corporation (LRC) is a specialty paper manufacturer and converter of paper, film, cotton, and nonwoven materials. The company’s headquarters is in Green Bay and is privately held with annual sales of over $200 million and 450 employees at three Wisconsin locations. The business has two divisions that sell a wide variety of products in the healthcare, beauty, flexographic printing, and specialty paper markets. Rapids Green Bay supplies printed film, paper, and nonwovens. Rapids Shawano has three paper machines that manufacture tissue, machine glazed, and wet crepe paper.  Graham Professional manufactures and sells one-time use products into the healthcare and beauty markets through a network of national and regional distributors. 

With its family ownership dating back to 1947, the company is guided by a strong and positive culture. LRC’s purpose is remarkably simple: to bring together all their people’s talents and energies to create an outstanding organization that delivers true value to their customers. The four core values of the business are lived out by ownership and top leadership and serve as a guide to all interactions, behavior, expectations, and strategic initiatives. These values are:

• Care: Take Care of One Another & Always Be Transparent
• Act: Dream Big, Think Big, Act Big, Create Contagious Energy
• Learn: Improve Every Day while Being Humble
• Serve: Do Great Things & Be Easy to Work With

Position Summary:

The Paper Machine Manager is responsible for the overall operation and performance of assigned paper machine(s) and related process equipment. This role drives safety, product quality, and process optimization while leading product development trials and continuous improvement initiatives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure safety of team members with focused hazard recognition and follow-up to any reported hazards or incidents.
• Lead daily operations of the paper machines to maximize production speed, reduce waste, and ensure high availability.
• Identify and implement cost reduction and resource conservation initiatives (e.g., water usage, fiber recovery, furnish optimization).
• Develop, train, and coach hourly employees; establish standard operating procedures and supporting tools.
• Oversee daily product quality support customer complaint resolution.
• Troubleshoot issues using structured problem-solving methods and engage the team in the process.
• Support off-shift operations as needed, including on-call rotation and backup for operations leadership.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties or functions and may not necessarily comprise all of the "essential functions" for purposes of the ADA.

Education, Certifications, and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Paper science or related field required.
• Minimum five years of paper or related industry experience, with papermaking and process management skills preferred.
• Proven ability to engage operators to meet established KPI’s.
• Good written and verbal communication skills as well as teamwork skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office software and willing and able to learn new systems (Lean Six Sigma, structured problem solving, Statistical Process Control, JD Edwards, etc.).
• Knowledge of PI Historian and Proficy database a plus.

Key Competencies:

• Safety leadership and compliance
• Operational excellence and production management
• Leadership, coaching, and team development
• Customer focus
• Continuous improvement (Lean/TPM, problem solving)
• Data-driven decision making
• Cost and resource management
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Strong communication and influence skills
• Technical and systems aptitude
• Accountability and adaptability in a manufacturing environment

Physical Requirements:

The ability to work in a normal manufacturing environment to include sitting, standing, or walking for long periods of time; climbing stairs; operating various standard office equipment; carrying paper documents/files; reaching; bending; crawling; speaking on the telephone; wearing required personal protection gear (i.e. hearing, eye and foot protection); tolerating loud noise (maximum of 95 dB); tolerating extreme heat, cold and dusty environment.

EOE including disability/veteran