Distillery Supervisor

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, Traveller, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Svedka, Wheatley, BuzzBallz, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka.

We’re proud of our award-winning culture and distilleries. Our Louisville office has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” four times, and our Buffalo Trace Distillery has earned the title of “world’s most award-winning distillery” through the dedication of our craftsmen for well over 200 years. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, Sazerac provides extraordinary opportunities for growth with competitive salaries and benefits in an exciting, entrepreneurial industry.

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