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Job Description
Reports To:
Chief Strategy Officer Shift:
Primarily 1st shift with overlap into 2nd shift as needed Position Summary Green Era is looking for a hands-on, safety-focused Operations Supervisor to help lead one of Chicago's most innovative organics recycling and renewable energy facilities. At our campus located on the South Side of Chicago, we transform food waste into renewable natural gas and nutrient-rich soil products, creating environmental impact, local jobs, and a model for sustainable urban infrastructure. This is a great opportunity for a practical operations leader who enjoys building teams, solving real operational challenges, and improving safety, uptime, throughput, and plant performance. The ideal candidate will have experience leading people in industrial operations, manufacturing, waste/recycling, wastewater treatment, composting, renewable energy, or a related hands-on operating environment. What Makes This Role Unique Help lead daily operations at a first-of-its-kind urban food waste recycling and renewable natural gas facility. Work at the center of sustainability, renewable energy, organics recycling, and resource recovery. Lead and develop a growing operations team. Play a key role in improving plant performance, safety, uptime, and throughput. Join a mission-driven company with real community and environmental impact. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Operations Management Supervise daily anaerobic digestion, depackaging, receiving, and material handling operations. Plan and manage the receiving, unloading, and processing of incoming food waste materials. In partnership with onsite technical leadership, monitor feedstock quality, contamination levels, and operational impacts from incoming materials. Ensure proper operation of depackaging equipment, forklifts, pumps, mixers, conveyors, and associated systems. Execute all daily operating plans as it relates to feed planning and digester loading schedules. Follow current production processes while helping develop and optimize new procedures to improve safety, efficiency, productivity, uptime, and overall plant performance. Team Leadership This is a hands-on player-coach role. You will actively work in the field alongside the team — performing installations, commissioning, troubleshooting, and service — while also mentoring, training, and leading technicians and laborers. Create a safe, accountable, and high-performing team. Train employees on safety procedures, equipment operation, and plant processes. Conduct shift meetings that begin with safety and clearly communicate daily operational priorities. Monitor employee performance, provide coaching, and address performance issues when necessary. Assist with scheduling and staffing requirements. Safety & Compliance Promote and enforce a strong safety culture by ensuring daily safety meetings are completed, documented, and followed by the team. Conduct routine safety inspections and audits. Ensure compliance with OSHA, environmental, and company regulations. Investigate incidents and near misses and implement corrective actions. Maintain accurate operational, safety, OSHA, and environmental compliance records. Maintenance Coordination Coordinate maintenance activities with internal and external maintenance teams. Support preventive and predictive maintenance programs. Work with maintenance to minimize downtime, document issues, and support timely repairs. Administrative Responsibilities Complete daily operational reports and shift logs. Track throughput, contamination incidents, safety observations, downtime, and equipment performance. Maintain inventory of operational supplies and consumables. Qualifications Required High school diploma or equivalent required; associate or bachelor degree in Business Management, Operations Management, Industrial Technology, Environmental Science, or a related field preferred. Equivalent hands-on experience will be considered. 3+ years of experience in industrial operations, waste management, manufacturing, recycling, processing plants, wastewater treatment, composting, renewable energy, or a similar environment, including experience leading teams or shift operations. Strong leadership and communication skills. Hands-on player coach mentality. Ability to work independently and make sound operational decisions. Experience with safety programs and regulatory compliance. Proficiency with Microsoft Office and basic reporting systems. Preferred Experience in anaerobic digestion, organics recycling, composting, wastewater treatment, renewable energy, or industrial processing facilities. Experience with CMMS systems such as MaintainX, Fiix, or similar platforms. OSHA 30 Certification or equivalent. Physical Requirements Ability to work indoors and outdoors in varying weather conditions. Ability to lift up to 50 pounds. Ability to climb stairs, ladders, and access industrial equipment. Ability to work in confined spaces. Ability to stand and walk for extended periods. Ability to wear required personal protective equipment (PPE).
Compensation & Benefits Pay:
$35.00 per hour, depending on experience. Full-time, in-person role at the Green Era Campus in Chicago. Opportunity for growth as Green Era expands operations. Benefits package available. Why Join Green Era? Green Era is building a more sustainable future by transforming food waste into renewable natural gas and valuable soil products. Our facility located on the South Side of Chicago is a working example of circular infrastructure: diverting food waste from landfills, producing clean energy, supporting urban agriculture, and creating local jobs. As Operations Supervisor, you will have a direct role in keeping the facility safe, efficient, and growing. This is a hands-on leadership opportunity for someone who wants to be part of a mission-driven company at the intersection of recycling, renewable energy, sustainability, and community impact. Green Era is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity in the workplace. We encourage qualified candidates from a wide range of industrial, operations, maintenance, recycling, wastewater, manufacturing, and renewable energy backgrounds to apply.
Pay:
$30.00 - $35.00 per hour
Benefits:
Dental insurance Health insurance Paid time off Parental leave Vision insurance Application Question(s): Do you have 5 or more years of experience in industrial operations, manufacturing, waste/recycling, wastewater treatment, or a similar hands-on environment? Have you directly supervised or led a team of hourly workers in an industrial or plant-based setting? Do you have experience using a CMMS platform (e.g., MaintainX, Fiix, or similar) to track maintenance activities or work orders? Ability to
