Distillery Supervisor

Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery's rich tradition dates back to 1773 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.

Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is a National Historic Landmark as well as is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won 17 distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It was named “Brand Innovator of the Year” by Whisky Magazine at its Icons of Whisky America Awards 2015. Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 300 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies. The distillery is part of the Sazerac family of companies.

The Role

This isn't a desk job. As Distillery Supervisor, you'll be the operational heartbeat of our distillery, dryhouse, and powerhouse — running a multi-million dollar departmental budget, leading up to 60 skilled union employees, and making sure every drop that leaves our facility meets the Buffalo Trace standard. You'll be part engineer, part coach, part problem-solver, and 100% accountable.

You'll spend 80–90% of your time on the floor — where the real work happens.

What You'll Do

• Lead & develop up to 60+ union employees across the distillery, dryhouse, and powerhouse — setting the standard for performance, safety, and pride in craft
• Own the operational schedule — monitor production, solve problems on the fly, and make sure every shift runs like a well-aged barrel program
• Champion a safety-first culture by running safety meetings, enforcing PPE standards, and making sure everyone goes home the way they came in
• Drive continuous improvement using Lean, Six Sigma, or your own bag of tricks — identify inefficiencies, build the plan, execute with engineering
• Guard the quality — make real-time decisions to protect consistency and meet every quality control parameter without compromise
• Manage a $25M budget with discipline — tracking efficiencies, reducing waste, and improving yields without cutting corners on quality
• Keep us compliant — manage environmental and regulatory data systems, stay ahead of changing regulations, and keep our Environmental Management System current
• Responsible for the operation – running and not running – to meet production goals
• Contribute to 2–5 year capital investment planning — your operational insight shapes our future
• Responsible for raw material inventory checks
• Responsible for KPIs/automating KPIs wherever possible and working with the team on the floor to ensure data is accurate.

The Environment

We’re a working distillery — that means heat, humidity, noise, and the occasional splash. You’ll need to be comfortable in loud, wet, and mechanical environments, and able to lift up to 50 lbs. If that doesn’t faze you, you’ll fit right in.

Shift/Compensation

Distillery supervisors work on a rotating shift - qualified candidates must be able to work days and nights.

Pay range: $81,500-$123,300 based on relatable years of experience