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For more than 115 years, Ferrara has created sugar confections that enable moments of sweetness, celebration, and connection for candy lovers of all generations. Today, the company is the #1 sugar confectioner in the United States. Ferrara boasts a passionate team of nearly 9,000 employees creating and delivering hundreds of products sold under 20 popular brands like Brach’s®, NERDS®, SweeTARTS®, Laffy Taffy®, and Trolli® to more than 66 million U.S. households annually and popular Dori snacking products under brands such as Dori, Gomets, Pettiz, and Yogurte 100 in Brazil. Additionally, Jelly Belly, known world-wide for its confections, was acquired in November of 2023.

Sr Manager IT Business Partner - Plant Maintenance

Job Location: Chicago

Hybrid role – Travel to plants in the Chicagoland area on a regular basis with the main presence at the corporate office at Old Post Office. There is the ability to work from home 2 days a week pending demand.

Want to make an impact?

The Senior Manager, IT Business Partner is a key role within Information Technology at Ferrara Candy Company. Ferrara’s success and strategic growth initiatives drive our aggressive IT agenda. The Business partner acts as a specialist within several business process areas. As such, the role works closely with our business stakeholders to translate requirements into solutions that consistently add value to our business.
The Senior Manager, IT Business Partner will work directly with the head of Reliability Engineering, Plant maintenance teams and Manufacturing Business leaders, IT Leaders and external Service Providers actively facilitating the delivery of solutions. A keen understanding of the goals and objectives of Plant Operations is required.
The Senior Manager, Business Partner ensures that the support mechanisms are in place for system users and that we have the ability to extend, integrate and optimize the platforms.

Ways you will make a difference

Business Partnership:
Work directly with leaders and managers within the Reliability Engineering Function to develop the business technology strategy that matches Ferrara’s business objectives and growth strategies.
Build a partnership and relationship that adds value to the business through proactive management of enabling technologies.
Assess risk in business areas not adequately supported by technology.
Project Leadership & Solution Design and Delivery:
Provide visibility of IT projects and activities that impact the Reliability Engineering/Plant Maintenance function. Clearly communicate risks, issues, and action plans.
Manage all aspects of the project portfolio within the assigned business area.
Effectively communicate the results and status of projects during various stages of their life cycle.
Work closely with internal IT resources and external service providers to deliver solutions on time and on budget.
Manage issues and escalate as necessary when projects within the portfolio are at risk in terms of Scope, Timelines and Budgets.

Application/Technology Management:
Understand the application architecture and how the design meet the needs of the business.
Understand when and how patches and upgrades should be applied to systems and the impact that those upgrades have on the business as it applies to new functionality and the potential disruption of services.
Meet our Service Level Agreements when it comes to beak/fixes and system bugs.
Utilize our existing technology investments before investing in other solutions that could be redundant.
Understand the full implications of application security and compliance ensuring that our People, Processes and Technologies are compliant and meet all relevant audit requirements.

Skills that will make you successful

Dynamic and enthusiastic personality combining flexibility and creativity.
Strong communicator with the ability to translate high-level unstructured ideas and requests quickly into a level of detail that can be easily matched to our current system capabilities.
Proven experience developing project plans and leading projects to completion.
Proven ability to build and maintain successful relationships across business partners, external partners, and the wider IT community.
Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
Able to conduct research into issues and products as required.
Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-moving environment and make sound decisions.
Ability to present ideas in a user-friendly language.
Highly self-motivated and directed.
Occasional travel required.

Experiences that will support your success

5 or more years of experience in supporting Reliability Engineering/Plant maintenance function.
3 or more years of experience with a plant maintenance solution. Preferably SAP S4 Plant Maintenance.
Have led or provided support in transitioning plant maintenance solutions to a new, global platform a plus.
Familiarity with QAD Redzone connected worker platform and Waites condition monitoring solution.
Bachelor’s degree (B.A. or B.S.) from a four-year college or university or 5 to 7 years of IT and business/industry work experience.
Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications a plus.
Prior experience working with in a consumer-packaged goods manufacturing facility.
Prior success managing external IT service providers to deliver solutions.
Proven experience and knowledge of condition based and predictive maintenance solutions.

Ferrara’s success in industry-leading innovation has been driven by deep consumer insights, strong retailer co-creation and partnerships, and a dedication to diversity of thought, experience, and people. A privately held company, Ferrara has its global headquarters in Chicago and an operational network of more than 27 locations in North America, Brazil, and China that includes manufacturing, distribution, sales, and R&D facilities. Ferrara is a privately held Ferrero related company. Learn more at www.ferrara.com or www.linkedin.com/company/ferrara-.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. In order to provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees, employment decisions and opportunities at Ferrara will be based on merit, qualifications, and abilities, without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital or civil union status, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, military or veteran status, disability, handicap, genetic information, pregnancy (childbirth or related medical condition), or on any other basis prohibited by law. This policy governs all aspects of employment, including selection, job assignment, compensation, discipline, termination, and access to benefits and training.