Production Lead

Salary Range: $22.00 per hour

Benefit Eligible: Yes, includes health insurance (medical, dental, vision) along with paid time off and a 401(k) with company match

Location: Mesa, AZ

Shift: 1st Shift (6:00 AM - 2:30 PM)

Classification: Non-exempt, Regular Full-time

Reports to: Production Manager

About the Company

Paleovalley and Wild Pastures were born from a simple but radical idea: real food can heal — people, animals, and the planet. When Paleovalley co-founders Autumn and Chas Smith saw how industrialized food was affecting human health and the health of the land, they refused to play along. Autumn’s own journey of healing through nutrient-dense foods lit a fire that became Paleovalley. From there, the mission grew roots, sprouted wings, and eventually expanded into Wild Pastures to bring regeneratively raised meats directly to families nationwide.

Today, Paleovalley crafts deeply nourishing snacks and supplements made with organic ingredients and honorable sourcing. Wild Pastures connects small American farmers practicing regenerative agriculture with customers who believe better food is worth fighting for. Every product, every partnership, and every decision is guided by a commitment to real ingredients, regenerative practices, and the belief that health is built from the soil up.

We’re a team of grounded doers, curious thinkers, bold builders, and warm humans who like to laugh while doing meaningful work. We're growing quickly, fueled by purpose and a shared desire to repair the food system one thoughtful choice at a time.

If you feel energized by impact, drawn to mission, and ready to join a company rewriting the future of food, we’d love to meet you!

About The Opportunity

The Production Lead is responsible for implementing, coordination and assigning overall duties within the production area, while adhering to quality standards, safety protocols, and regulatory requirements. The lead may have various responsibilities based on specific departments, this can include, but are not limited to packaging, inventory control, general production and general warehouse functions. The Production Lead must follow and adhere to all company process procedures and controls. The Production Lead will report to and work closely with the Production Manager.

What You’ll Do

1. Oversee Production Operations: Lead daily processing and packaging activities to ensure products are manufactured safely, efficiently, and in compliance with quality standards and production goals.
2. Production Scheduling & Coordination: Execute production and blending schedules, ensuring required ingredients, materials, and resources are requested and available for each processing area.
3. Processing & Packaging Oversight: Monitor all processing and packaging lines to ensure adherence to safety, quality, and operational procedures while meeting output targets.
4. Product & Packaging Changeovers: Coordinate and oversee equipment, labeler, and date coder changeovers, verifying setups align with procedures and finished product specifications.
5. Quality Monitoring: Continuously verify labels, code dates, seals, net weights, and in-process checks to ensure finished products meet quality and specification requirements.
6. Ingredient Receiving & Handling: Verify incoming raw materials meet quality standards and ensure proper labeling, storage, segregation, and handling to prevent cross-contamination.
7. GMP & Regulatory Compliance: Enforce GMPs, SOPs, and compliance with FDA, USDA, and food safety regulations across all production activities.
8. Quality Issue Escalation: Communicate quality, ingredient, or process issues to QA, Production Management, or Maintenance as appropriate.
9. Equipment Monitoring & Troubleshooting: Monitor equipment performance, address minor operational issues, and escalate mechanical problems to Maintenance when needed.
10. Documentation & Traceability: Ensure accurate and complete documentation of batch records, LOT numbers, BOMs, production logs, downtime, and deviations to maintain full traceability.
11. Safety & Sanitation Leadership: Enforce safety protocols, PPE requirements, and sanitation standards to maintain a clean, safe, and organized work environment.
12. Team Collaboration & Training: Work closely with Production, QA, and Maintenance teams, assist with employee training, and communicate challenges or improvement opportunities to leadership.

Supervisory Responsibility

This position is responsible for assigning overall duties within the production area.

Competencies

1. Attention to Detail – Ability to maintain accuracy and precision in tasks.
2. Teamwork – Strong collaboration and communication skills within a team environment.
3. Work Ethic – Reliability, punctuality, and a commitment to meeting production goals.
4. Adaptability – Willingness to learn and adjust to new processes or tasks.
5. Safety Awareness – Understanding and following workplace safety protocols.

Required Education and Experience

1. Education: High School Diploma, GED, or equivalent required.
2. Experience: 1 year of experience in a leadership role in a food or supplement manufacturing environment.
3. Bilingual (English/Spanish) required: ability to communicate effectively with a diverse workforce

Work Environment and Physical Demands

This role is performed in a manufacturing setting, which may include exposure to varying temperatures, varying noise levels including loud machinery, and dust or other airborne particles. Employees are required to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as needed, such as safety glasses, gloves, or ear protection, to maintain a safe working environment. The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. This position requires prolonged standing and walking for the duration of the shift. The employee will be regularly lifting, moving (pushes, pulls, or carrying objects), maintaining body balance while using abdominal and lower back muscles to provide support over time without fatigue. The employee will also carry materials weighing up to 50 pounds. The employee will use frequent bending, stooping, and reaching, as well as manual dexterity (hand, hand with arm, two hands) to operate machinery or tools and perform repetitive tasks. The position regularly works near moving mechanical parts. Work may be performed under hazardous conditions such as operating heavy equipment within the manufacturing facility. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. The employee must have excellent stamina with the ability to remain focused and maintain a high level of accuracy in a fast-paced environment. The employee must adhere to all safety protocols and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
This is a full-time position. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand. The exact schedule will be set by your manager. This position does not require travel.

Work Authorization/Security Clearance (if applicable)

The employee must be authorized to work in the United States for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

EEO Statement:

Paleovalley and Wild Pastures are equal opportunity employers. Employment and processes, including decisions to hire, promote, discipline, or discharge, are based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned and must perform all duties and responsibilities in accordance with the policies and procedures set by the company. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Revision Date: 01-26-2025.

EEO Statement:

Paleovalley and Wild Pastures are equal opportunity employers. Employment and processes, including decisions to hire, promote, discipline, or discharge, are based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

E-Verify:

Paleovalley and Wild Pastures participate in E-Verify, the federal program for electronic verification of employment eligibility.