Manager Contract Manufacturing

Title: Manager Contract Manufacturing

Location: Eagle, ID

Job Requisition ID: Req-259733

Time Type: Full time

About Lamb Weston

You’ve probably enjoyed our fries without even knowing it! As a leading manufacturer in our industry, and public Fortune 500 company, we inspire and bring people together with foods they love and trust. Our customer base includes international food service providers, restaurants, and households in over 100 countries around the world.

A highly innovative global corporation with a start-up mindset, we empower every individual to make a genuine difference. You’ll gain access to hands-on training to fuel your growth and success, explore opportunities for new solutions, and you’ll join a winning team of 10,000+ people all dedicated to raising the bar – together.

If you have a strong drive for results, a desire to help us bring the world together through our fries, and are ready for a fresh challenge, we want to hear from you.

Job Description Summary

The Manager Contract Manufacturing will serve as the main point of contact to locate and develop worldwide manufacturing capabilities. It is critical this person has their finger on the pulse of the worldwide food manufacturing industry, to proactively see opportunities and gaps LW can use to drive innovation.

Develops and maintains relationships with strategic/ high spend / high risk contract manufacturers and manages performance to Lamb Weston standards and requirements associated with Quality, Service, Food Safety and Cost within requirements of the contracts. Manages strategic / high value / high risk projects associated with assigned relationships, and Business Unit initiatives in order to drive, the right product at the right cost. Leads projects to develop department processes and systems to support consistent approach to work and high performance.

This position will work mainly with the dedicated discovery innovation team. This team is focused on the identification of expansion opportunities beyond current boundaries (e.g., new markets, new technological advancements, and new business models), proposition development through building, buying, and/or partnering, and incubation/optimization of the innovation solution to a final recommendation.

Job Description

Innovation

• Collaborates with other team members to generate new product and packaging ideas.

• Creates external network of potential technology sources and links in strategic areas.

• Assists with identifying external sources of new technologies for use in potato product or processing. 

• Translates findings to potential applications and opportunities.

• Primary liaison between Discovery team and COMAN.

• Attends trade shows/technical meetings inside and outside industry to discover new technologies for application in potatoes.

• Identifies and fosters external relationships with potential co-packing companies.

• Ensures the entire value chain, key strategies and potential risks to optimize company returns are calculated and communicated.

Business Acumen

• Negotiates access to manufacturing assets for scale up validation, business terms and access to external technologies for initial validation/proof of concept.

• Ability to understand and leverage business opportunities, company strategies and key metrics in making decisions which deliver results.

• Validates external manufacturing locations for new products and packaging.

• Evaluates potential Co-packer for fit with LW (culture, quality, food safety).

• Liaison with the Operations function for internal manufacturing to align with Company manufacturing strategy to maximize leverage between Contract Manufacturing, Marketing, Innovation, Quality, Manufacturing, Procurement and Logistic departments.

• Work with the Procurement function to help develop manufacturing and capacity strategies that are consistent with the current and future sourcing strategies.

Commercialization

• Partners with Commercialization team to manage project handoffs from pilot through full-scale execution to ensure specifications are established prior to production and all parameters are achieved during the qualification, verification and commercialization steps.

• Ensure adequate technical representation (Quality, Innovation and Procurement) is present during project phases.

• Primary liaison between internal and Co-Packer resources to ensure alignment and effective communications.

Ongoing Maintenance & Continuous Improvement

• Establish and report KPI's for co-manufacturers on quality, food safety, customer service and financial reporting. Develop and execute strategies to improve performance.

• Conduct regular Operational Improvement reviews with Contract Manufacturers to improve production efficiency and reduce production cost.

• Analyze manufacturing best practices within facilities and drive implementation of these practices into the key strategic Contract Manufacturers.

• Serve as the primary function for obtaining operational savings at Contract Manufacturer facilities and ensure that savings are tracking according to expectations through validation to implementation.

• Provide focus and coordination around resolving and communicating immediate business issues (i.e., recalls, product going on hold, or other significant unusual occurrences).

• Accountable for engaging business partners and establishing a communication flow across all functional groups in the management of the capital strategy for both short and long term goals.

• Manage inventory discrepancies and claims for excess losses or supplier issues between Contract Manufacturer and Corporate functions to control costs and ensure quick resolution of outstanding issues.

Basic & Preferred Qualifications

Education/ Certifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Project Management, Supply Chain, or related field required

• Master’s degree preferred

Skills and Experience:

• 5 years of food manufacturing operational experience, specifically in co-manufacturing required.

• Food ingredient/packaging materials/processing expertise

• Procurement / Purchasing expertise

• Demonstrated business acumen – Leader of self: Information savvy, end to end supply chain, continuous improvement

• Broad external network, able to act on past relationships across broad product manufacturing categories

• TPM experience (problem solving / root cause analysis experience).

• Ability to interact with academia/government/start-ups

• Early adapter for technology and future thinking

• Visionary thinker

• Working knowledge of Intellectual Property protection and processes.

• Ability to translate findings into application.

• Demonstrated problem solving skills

• Capital expenditure costing and startup P&L forecasting experience

• IP/Patent experience

• Negotiation lead

• Cross functional team experience – extended team leadership

• Expertise in Microsoft Excel, Office, project management software, Salesforce and SharePoint

• Some travel may be required, up to 50% of the time (domestic and international)

• Ability to obtain a Passport and Visas necessary for international travel.

• Valid Driver’s License and driving record that meets Lamb Weston Driving standards.

Industry-Competitive Benefits

Coupled with our compensation and bonus incentive programs, our benefits deliver rewards that are market competitive.  Some of the most attractive elements of our benefit programs include:

• Health Insurance Benefits - Medical, Dental, Vision

• Flexible Spending Accounts for Health and Dependent Care, and Health Reimbursement Accounts

• Well-being programs including companywide events and a wellness incentive program

• Paid Time Off

• Financial Wellness – Industry leading 401(k) plan with generous company contributions, Financial Planning Services, Employee Stock purchase program, and Health Savings Accounts, Life and Accident insurance

• Family-Friendly Employee events

• Employee Assistance Program services – mental health and other concierge type services

Benefits may vary based on location, job role/level, job status, and/or the terms of any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Anticipated Close Date

The anticipated close date is a good faith estimate for when this job will be closed. Some jobs may be unposted or filled earlier or later than the Anticipated Close Date depending on interview processes and business needs.

Anticipated Close Date: 03/15/2026

Pay Transparency

In compliance with applicable state and local laws, Lamb Weston has opted to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. This compensation is specific to this position and takes into account a number of variables. Actual compensation may be higher or lower in the range posted based on various factors, including, but not limited to, job duties, experience and expertise. A candidate's work location could also impact the actual compensation being outside of the range to reflect local cost of labor. A reasonable annual estimate of the range for this role is listed below.

Pay Rate or Range: $127,620.00 - $191,400.00

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lamb Weston is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected factor under federal, state or local law