Plant Superintendent

Hampton Lumber is a thriving family-owned company aspiring to be North America's preferred source for responsibly-sourced wood solutions. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, we operate nine sawmills in Western Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. We also manage timberland and operate a wholesale and import/export division.  

Our mission is to grow, manufacture, and market renewable wood products and deliver innovative solutions for a more sustainable built environment. At Hampton Lumber, we accomplish this through our own operations as well as those of our affiliates—Trapa Forest Products, Idaho Timber, and RedBuilt. Our tagline, "Find a better way every day," encapsulates our commitment to innovation and improvement across all operations.
 

We are guided by our core values: 

• Safety – Prioritize safety across all operations.
• Integrity & Authenticity – Operate honestly and ethically while preserving our distinctive family-owned brand.
• Responsible Stewardship – Endeavor to balance and maintain economic, social, and environmental values in everything we do.
• Tenacity – Embrace challenges with grit, determination, and a can-do spirit. 
• Continuous Improvement – Strive to enhance our processes, products, and people.
• Customer Satisfaction – Be nimble, responsive, and solutions-oriented.
• Community Engagement – Be a responsive, supportive, and respected member of the community.

With over 80 years in the sawmill business, we are proud to have cultivated the knowledge and experience needed to grow and prosper, even in challenging times.  We always look to the future and invest in our people, new technologies, and continuous improvement processes and techniques. 

The Plant Superintendent is responsible for the safe startup, commissioning, and ongoing operation of the Allendale sawmill. This role owns day-to-day production and maintenance execution, leads multi-shift teams, and ensures the mill meets Hampton’s standards for safety, quality, recovery, uptime, and cost control.

The Superintendent plays a critical role during construction completion, commissioning, and ramp-up, transitioning the mill from startup mode to stable, world-class performance.

• Substantial company-paid assistance for Medical and Dental insurance premiums; mental health coverage; cost effective co-pays and deductibles
• 401(k) with 5% annual company contribution and generous company matching contributions vested over three years
• Paid time off, including eight paid holidays
• Participation in the employee bonus program
• Employee wellness program that includes free counseling sessions, financial and legal guidance, and more
• Opportunities for paid training to support career advancement and personal development

Startup & Commissioning (Pre-Start to Ramp-Up)

• Serve as the primary operational lead during equipment installation, checkout, commissioning, and production ramp-up.
• Partner with Engineering, OEMs, contractors, and the PLC/Controls team to:
• Validate equipment performance
• Resolve startup issues and bottlenecks
• Establish safe operating limits and standard rates
• Lead development and enforcement of:
• Startup safety procedures
• Lockout/tagout and machine guarding standards
• Initial SOPs and work instructions
• Coordinate staffing, shift structure, and training plans.

Operations & Production

• Direct all daily sawmill operations from log yard to planer outfeed.
• Ensure production plans meet targets for:
• Throughout
• Recovery/yield
• Grade mix
• On-time shipments
• Own shift-to-shift handoffs and operating discipline.

Maintenance & Reliability

• Lead integration of maintenance into operations with a strong reliability-centered mindset.
• Ensure preventive and predictive maintenance programs are established early and followed.
• Coordinate planned outages, major rebuilds, and continuous improvement shutdown work.
• Ensure proper spare parts strategy and critical inventory is in place prior to startup.

Safety, Health & Environmental (EH&S)

• Establish a strong safety culture from day one, consistent with Hampton Lumber values.
• Ensure compliance with:
• OSHA and applicable state regulations
• Company safety standards and best practices
• Lead incident investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective actions.
• Reinforce personal ownership of safety at all levels of the organization.

People Leadership & Culture

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performance team of:
• Maintenance Leaders
• Shift supervisors
• Hourly operators and maintenance personnel
• Set clear expectations around:
• Accountability
• Attendance
• Job ownership
• Respectful workplace culture
• Support hiring, onboarding, training, and qualification of operators during startup.
• Partner closely with HR on labor relations and performance management.

Financial & Performance Management

• Own daily and weekly operational KPIs including:
• Safety metrics
• Throughput and uptime
• Recovery and Grade
• Labor and maintenance cost
• Support development and execution of the operating budget.
• Identify and drive cost-reduction and margin-improvement opportunities.

Continuous Improvement

• Champion continuous improvement using Lean, TPM, or Hampton best practices.
• Identify process bottlenecks and lead cross-functional improvement efforts.
• Standardize work procedures, and expectations across shifts.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work closely with:
• General Manager
• Engineering & Capital Projects
• PLC/Controls
• EH&S
• HR
• Finance & Supply Chain
• Represent operations during audits, corporate reviews, and OEM meetings.

Required

• 7+ years’ experience in sawmill or heavy industrial manufacturing.
• 3+ years in a senior operations leadership role (Superintendent, Operations Manager).
• Proven experience in new mill startup, major rebuild, or greenfield commissioning.
• Strong understanding of sawmill processes, equipment, and wood flow.
• Demonstrated ability to lead large, multi-shift teams.

Preferred

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Technology or similar discipline
• Hampton Lumber or similar high-performance lumber producer experience.
• Experience with:
• High-speed primary breakdown systems
• Advanced scanning and optimization
• PLC-driven production lines
• Lean / TPM implementation experience.

The timber and wood products industry is a vital part of many communities, and we’re excited to bring new opportunities to Allendale County, South Carolina. We are committed to supporting the local workforce, investing in training and development, and being active members of the communities where we operate. Many of our employees have built long, rewarding careers with us, and we look forward to welcoming new team members to our family.

Learn more at Hamptonlumber.com, follow us on Facebook & Instagram: @hamptonlumber

Hampton Lumber is an equal opportunity employer: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other status protected by law. 

Disability accommodation available: If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation in the application or hiring process, please contact the Human Resources Office for the location that you are applying.

Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please see these government posters: EEO is the Law and its accompanying temporary supplement.