Manly is a 30-year veteran of fresh pork processing, packaged meats and live hog production. He rejoined Smithfield Foods as executive vice president in August of 2006 after 10 years as president and chief operating officer of Premium Standard Farms. He arrived at PSF in 1996, just days after the company emerged from bankruptcy. Under his leadership, PSF became the second largest integrator in the hog production industry and launched a successful initial public stock offering in 2002. PSF was eventually acquired by Smithfield in 2007.
Prior to being president of PSF, Manly served as executive vice president at Smithfield Foods from 1986 to 1996 and was president of Smithfield Packing Company from 1994 to 1995. He was assistant to the president of IBP Inc. from 1981 to 1986. Earlier, Manly held various positions in the beef processing and cattle feeding industries. He is a graduate of Stanford University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.