GENERAL MANAGER – Manufacturing, Road Infrastructure Sector

ESE Recruitment; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Unknown Manufacturer in Melbourne's western suburbs seeks a General Manager to unite people, production and commercial performance under one leader. A genuinely hands-on SME leadership role with close collaboration to the Managing Director.

Based in Melbourne, the role involves overseeing operations across production, engineering, finance, service and supply chain, and leading a technically skilled team through strategic and day-to-day decisions.

Qualifications

• Experience leading manufacturing teams in SME/private ownership environments.
• Strong commercial judgement with ability to balance production and cost.
• Proven ability to align operations with sales and service.
• Hands-on leadership style with the ability to work on the shop floor.

Responsibilities

• Provide coordinated leadership across operations, production, sales, engineering, finance, service and supply chain.
• Oversee manufacturing, production planning, scheduling, capacity and on-time delivery.
• Ensure quality, safety and regulatory compliance in daily decisions.
• Drive revenue, margins, expenditure tracking and cash flow in partnership with finance.
• Own major quotations, commercial negotiations and customer matters.
• Build accountability and collaboration across the functional team.
• Develop managers and emerging leaders.

Skills

Leadership experience

Commercial & financial acumen

Stakeholder management

People development

Education

Engineering qualification preferred

Job description

GENERAL MANAGER – Manufacturing, Road Infrastructure Sector

This long-standing Australian manufacturer is looking for a General Manager to bring its people, production and commercial performance together under one clear head.

A genuinely hands-on GM role within a long-established, privately owned Australian manufacturer

Perfect for a leader with a background in transport equipment, heavy manufacturing or a related industrial setting

Partner closely with a hands‑on owner and lead a loyal, technically skilled team

The Business

This is a chance to take a central leadership role within a long-established Australian manufacturer of specialist industrial equipment for the road infrastructure sector.

Based in Melbourne's western suburbs, the business has spent generations building its reputation — through technical expertise, product quality, strong customer relationships and a deep understanding of local operating conditions.

As General Manager, you'll become the senior day-to-day leader of the business, working closely with the Managing Director to bring the operational, commercial, technical and people sides of the business together.

It's a broad, hands‑on SME leadership role. You'll need to be just as comfortable on the workshop floor as you are talking through commercial and financial performance, supporting customers, or setting direction for the wider team.

What You'll Be Doing

You’ll provide coordinated leadership across operations, production, sales, engineering, finance, service and supply chain — with responsibilities spanning:

Running the business day to day

• Progressively take on full accountability for the business's day-to-day performance as your understanding of it — and the team's confidence in you — builds
• Oversee manufacturing, production planning, scheduling, capacity and on‑time delivery
• Keep quality, safety and regulatory requirements front of mind in every operational decision

Commercial performance & customers

• Work with finance to get across revenue, margins, profitability, expenditure and cash flow
• Take ownership of sales performance and key customer relationships
• Step in on major quotations, commercial negotiations and any escalated customer matters
• Stay across workload, customer commitments, commercial priorities and operational risk at all times

Bringing the team together

• Align priorities across sales, engineering, production, purchasing, finance and service
• Build stronger accountability, communication and collaboration across the functional team
• Grow the capability of managers, technical employees and emerging leaders

Moving the business forward

• Spot practical opportunities to improve workflow, systems, productivity and overall performance
• Keep the Managing Director informed with clear, concise updates on performance, priorities and anything that needs escalating

The Managing Director will stay closely connected to the business, its people and key customers — you'll work alongside them to keep communication open while priorities, responsibilities and decisions are properly coordinated.

Authority in this role is something you'll build, not something you'll start with. As you get to know the business and earn the confidence of the Managing Director and the wider team, you'll progressively take on genuine authority over routine operational, commercial and people decisions.

What You'll Bring

Ideally, you'll bring leadership experience from transport equipment, heavy manufacturing or a closely related industrial environment.

You’ll need enough technical grounding to hold your own with engineers, experienced tradespeople, customers and suppliers. An engineering qualification is well regarded, but it's not essential if it's backed by strong practical, hands‑on industry experience.

Any exposure to heavy vehicles, transport equipment, dangerous goods, regulated manufacturing or related quality and compliance requirements will work in your favour.

You’ll also bring:

• A track record leading manufacturing or operational teams in a genuinely hands‑on environment
• The ability to maintain oversight across multiple business functions, not just one discipline
• Sound commercial and financial judgement — margins, costs and trade‑offs are second nature to you
• The confidence to manage customers through important or difficult commercial conversations
• A knack for adding structure and accountability without piling on unnecessary bureaucracy
• Experience working within an SME, privately owned or owner‑led business

How You'll Lead

You're calm, approachable and quietly confident — you don't need title or hierarchy to earn people's respect.

You're visible and engaged, comfortable setting clear expectations and holding people accountable, all while keeping relationships on solid ground. When an issue needs redirecting or tension needs resolving, you handle it without unnecessary confrontation.

This is a business with decades of specialist knowledge sitting inside its workforce — you'll need enough humility to learn from that knowledge, and enough leadership to bring people and functions together around it.

Practical, commercially minded and well organised, you'll know when to make the call yourself and when it's worth consulting the Managing Director first. Above all, you understand that lasting authority in an established SME isn't given — it's earned, through credibility, consistency and trust.

Why This Role

This is a genuine opportunity to lead a respected Australian business with a long history, an established market position and a loyal, technically capable team behind you.

The role comes with broad responsibility and real influence over how the whole business runs. You'll work closely with an owner who cares deeply about the company and its people, while progressively becoming its trusted day‑to‑day leader.

If you thrive on the variety and direct impact that only an SME can offer — and you get real satisfaction from bringing people, operations and commercial priorities together to make a good business even better — this role was built for you.