Production Manager

Earth Markets; City of Brisbane; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Earth Markets is seeking an experienced Production Manager to lead our fresh produce operations at Rocklea Markets, Brisbane. You will oversee planning, packing, quality control and daily team leadership to deliver high-quality trays and prepacked products for our stores.

In this hands-on role you’ll forecast demand from sales data, schedule production, manage labour and waste, and drive efficiency while maintaining food safety and high standards. This is a full-time Brisbane-based position.

Qualifications

• Experience in fresh produce/food manufacturing
• Experience leading production teams
• Strong planning, scheduling and forecasting abilities

Responsibilities

• Lead the fresh produce production team and ensure timely, cost-efficient output
• Plan daily/weekly production schedules based on forecast demand and store requirements
• Interpret sales data to forecast future production needs and adjust plans
• Ensure quality control, food safety and regulatory compliance across all output
• Manage labour, purchasing and inventory, minimise waste and improve yields
• Coordinate with warehouse and store teams to ensure supply continuity

Skills

Fresh produce

Team leadership

Production planning

Quality control

Food safety

Forecasting

Inventory management

Purchasing

Job description

Earth Markets | Rocklea Markets, Brisbane QLD
Full-Time | 5 Days per Week | Salary Negotiable Based on Experience

Production Manager – Fresh Produce

About Earth Markets

Earth Markets is a growing Queensland fresh food business with a strong focus on quality, freshness, value and exceptional customer experience.

As our business continues to grow, we are expanding our fresh produce production capability at our Rocklea Markets warehouse and are looking for an experienced Production Manager to lead this important part of our operation.

The Role

We are seeking a hands-on, commercially minded Production Manager to lead our production team responsible for preparing and packing our range of fresh fruit and vegetable trays, tubs and prepacked products for distribution across our stores.

This is a leadership role with responsibility for the complete production operation — people, quality, forecasting, scheduling, purchasing, productivity and efficiency.

A key part of the role will be using sales, pricing and production data to forecast demand, ensuring we produce the right quantities at the right time while managing freshness, labour, waste and availability.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, develop and manage the fresh produce production team
• Plan daily and weekly production schedules based on forecast demand and store requirements
• Interpret historical and current sales data to forecast future sales and production requirements
• Use dynamic pricing, sales trends, promotional activity, seasonality and other demand indicators to adjust production forecasts
• Translate sales forecasts into practical production, labour and purchasing requirements
• Ensure production targets are achieved efficiently and on time
• Manage labour allocation, workflow and team productivity
• Purchase and coordinate fruit, vegetables, packaging and other production requirements
• Maintain strong quality control across incoming produce and finished productsEnsure products meet specifications for quality, presentation, weight and freshness
• Minimise waste, overproduction, stock-outs and unnecessary production costs
• Monitor production yields, labour efficiency, output and waste
• Identify bottlenecks and implement practical process improvements
• Maintain appropriate food safety, hygiene, cleaning and workplace safety standards
• Coordinate with our warehouse, buying and store teams to ensure consistent supply
• Develop systems and processes that allow the production operation to scale as Earth Markets grows

What We're Looking For

You will ideally have:

• Previous experience in fresh produce, food manufacturing, food processing or a similar production environment
• Demonstrated experience leading production teams
• Strong production planning and scheduling capability
• Experience with quality control and food safety
• Purchasing, inventory or raw-material management experience
• Strong numerical and analytical capability, with the ability to interpret sales and operational data
• Experience using forecasting, dynamic pricing or demand-planning models to determine production requirements
• The ability to convert data into practical decisions around production volumes, purchasing and labour
• A strong understanding of labour management, productivity and production costs
• A demonstrated track record of improving efficiency and increasing productivity
• Strong organisational and problem-solving skills
• The ability to work in a fast-paced, time-sensitive fresh food environment
• A practical, hands-on leadership style and willingness to work alongside the team when required

Experience specifically within fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh-cut produce, prepacking, foodservice or supermarket production will be highly regarded.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this position means running a production operation that consistently delivers:

The right product. In the right quantity. At the right time. At the right cost.

You will use data and commercial judgement to anticipate demand rather than simply react to orders — balancing sales opportunity, availability, freshness, labour efficiency and waste.

We want someone who doesn't simply maintain a production schedule, but actively looks for opportunities to improve forecast accuracy, output, workflow, quality, yield and productivity.

Why Join Earth Markets?

Earth Markets is a progressive and growing fresh food business. This role provides the opportunity to take ownership of an important production function and help build the systems, team and capability required for our next stage of growth.

You’ll work in the heart of Brisbane's fresh produce industry at Rocklea Markets and have the opportunity to make a measurable impact on the performance of the business.

Full-time – 5 days per week
Location – Rocklea Markets, Brisbane QLD
Salary – Negotiable and commensurate with experience