Site Operations Manager

Sonder Executive; Sydney; On-site; AUD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Sonder Executive partners with a major Australian food manufacturer to appoint a Site Operations Manager at its flagship Sydney, NSW site. The role leads production, warehousing, planning and maintenance to uplift performance and profitability.

Reporting to the General Manager of Operations, you will drive labour productivity, safety, quality and continuous improvement, building an empowered leadership team across six lines and 150 staff.

Qualifications

• Proven operations leadership within food manufacturing or FMCG
• Strong financial acumen including budget ownership
• Demonstrated success improving labour productivity and efficiency
• Track record of developing leaders and driving accountability
• Visible hands-on safety leadership and incident management
• Knowledge of HACCP, GMP and SQF/BRC requirements
• Experience leading continuous improvement initiatives
• Experience in a unionised/enterprise agreement environment

Responsibilities

• Lead site operations across production, warehousing, planning, dispatch and maintenance
• Drive improvements in labour productivity, throughput, yield and costs
• Manage site budgets, financial performance and OPEX
• Champion proactive safety culture with strong compliance
• Lead continuous improvement to optimise processes and asset utilisation
• Develop and empower site leaders across the function
• Oversee food safety, quality and retailer audit requirements
• Support future growth, capex and operational improvement projects

Skills

Ops leadership

Budget ownership

Labour productivity

People development

Safety leadership

Food safety knowledge

Continuous improvement

Union environment

Job description

We are partnering with an established Australian food manufacturer with a national footprint, supplying fresh food products to major retailers and private-label customers, to appoint a Site Operations Manager at their flagship site in Sydney, NSW.

Recently transitioning to private equity ownership, the business is focused on improving operational efficiency, profitability and positioning itself for future growth.

Its largest manufacturing site, based in NSW, operates six production lines and employs approximately 150 people. With recent capital investment and a strong foundation in place, this is an opportunity to lead the site's next phase of operational improvement and growth.

The Company

We are partnering with an established Australian food manufacturer with a national footprint, supplying fresh food products to major retailers and private-label customers, to appoint a Site Operations Manager at their flagship site in Sydney, NSW.

Recently transitioning to private equity ownership, the business is focused on improving operational efficiency, profitability and positioning itself for future growth.

Its largest manufacturing site, based in NSW, operates six production lines and employs approximately 150 people. With recent capital investment and a strong foundation in place, this is an opportunity to lead the site's next phase of operational improvement and growth.

The Role

Reporting to the General Manager of Operations, you'll take responsibility for the overall performance of the NSW manufacturing site, leading production, warehousing, dispatch, planning and maintenance.

You'll play a key role in strengthening operational structures, improving labour productivity and building capability across the site leadership team.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead site operations across production, warehousing, planning, dispatch and maintenance.
• Drive improvements in labour productivity, throughput, yield and operational costs.
• Manage site budgets, financial performance and operational expenditure.
• Champion a proactive safety culture, ensuring strong compliance and accountability.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to optimise processes, equipment utilisation and efficiency.
• Develop and empower site leaders, strengthening capability, engagement and performance.
• Oversee food safety, quality and compliance with HACCP, GMP and retailer audit requirements.
• Partner with maintenance to improve asset reliability, preventative maintenance and plant performance.
• Support future volume growth, capital investment and operational improvement projects.

Your Background

You'll be an experienced manufacturing leader who combines strong commercial acumen with a people-centric leadership style. Comfortable operating in a changing environment, you'll bring a proven ability to improve performance, develop teams and deliver measurable operational outcomes.

You'll bring:

• Proven operations leadership experience within food manufacturing or FMCG, ideally managing a sizeable manufacturing site.
• Strong financial acumen, including budget ownership and cost management.
• Demonstrated success improving labour productivity, manufacturing efficiency and operational performance.
• A strong track record of developing leaders, uplifting team capability and driving accountability.
• Visible, hands-on safety leadership with experience managing operational risks and incident investigations.
• Sound knowledge of food safety, quality systems and retailer audit requirements, including HACCP, GMP and SQF/BRC.
• Experience leading continuous improvement initiatives and implementing operational best practices.
• Experience operating within a unionised or enterprise agreement environment.

What's On Offer

An opportunity to lead the largest manufacturing site within an established national food business. With private equity backing, recent capital investment and further growth opportunities ahead, you'll have the autonomy to influence operational strategy, develop a capable leadership team and deliver meaningful, measurable improvements.