Area Production Manager

What’s Cooking Group; Wanze; On-site; EUR 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Wide range of benefits

Growth opportunities

International reach

Job summary

What’s Cooking Group is a Belgian food group with several plants and 1,650 colleagues. We are seeking a Production Leader to steer operational activity, optimize safety, quality and cost, and to implement continuous improvements across the site.

You will lead a multi-plant production area, align with the plant strategy, develop your team and drive performance through data-driven decisions, while maintaining FSQ compliance and a strong safety culture.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business Administration or related field.
• 10–15 years of experience in Production Management, Operations or similar role.
• Experience in leading and developing high-performing teams.
• Strong operational leadership to translate strategy into execution.
• Production excellence mindset focused on safety, quality, efficiency and continuous improvement.
• Strategic thinker with hands-on approach to operational challenges.
• Excellent problem-solving with root-cause analysis.
• Organized, decisive and able to own area results.
• Fluency in French and English.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all operational activities within your assigned production area.
• Translate plant objectives into operational targets and ownership of safety, quality, maintenance and performance.
• Contribute to Plant Leadership Team with insights on area performance, risks and opportunities.
• Monitor KPIs, analyse deviations and implement corrective actions for sustainable results.
• Ensure compliance with FSQ standards and drive continuous product quality improvements.
• Promote safety culture and ensure compliance with safety, quality and environmental standards.
• Oversee maintenance, equipment availability and reliability improvements.
• Manage budgets (OPEX/CAPEX) and achieve financial targets.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives and home grown best practices.
• Ensure audit readiness and follow up on findings and actions.
• Coach and develop your team, ensuring staffing and succession planning.

Skills

People leadership

Production management

OEE focus

Quality & FSQ

Safety culture

Root cause analysis

Bilingual FR/EN

Budget mgmt

Education

Operations/Industrial mgmt degree

Job description

We always have a place at the table for new talent, so won’t you join us? Our name, What’s Cooking?, is followed by a question mark because we are always curious and open to new ideas. So yes, we are also curious to learn more about you.

Are you just as open-minded and enterprising as we are? In that case, we look forward to getting to know you/meeting you.

What Will You Do?

You lead and manage all operational activities within your assigned production area, ensuring that products are produced safely, on time, at the required quality level and at optimal cost.

• You translate plant objectives into clear operational targets and priorities for your area and take ownership of the results across safety, quality, maintenance and production performance.
• You contribute to the Plant Leadership Team by providing insights into area performance, risks and opportunities and ensuring alignment with the overall site strategy.
• You take full responsibility for production performance, including output, OEE and efficiency. You monitor KPIs, analyse deviations and implement corrective and preventive actions to achieve sustainable results.
• You ensure compliance with quality and food safety standards (FSQ) and drive continuous improvements in product quality and food safety.
• You promote a strong safety culture and ensure that all activities within your area comply with internal standards, legal requirements and company policies regarding safety, quality and environment.
• You take responsibility for equipment reliability and production continuity by ensuring effective maintenance programs, equipment availability and continuous reliability improvements.
• You manage costs and resources within your area, including OPEX and CAPEX, and ensure that budgets and financial targets are achieved.
• You own and continuously improve processes and procedures within your area, implement best practices and lead continuous improvement initiatives in line with the plant's operational excellence strategy.
• You ensure audit readiness, follow up on audit findings and drive the implementation of corrective actions.
• You lead, coach and develop your team, supporting team leaders and supervisors in building accountability, ownership and high performance.
• You ensure appropriate staffing, competence development and succession planning within your area and contribute to creating a strong culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Who Are You?

• You hold a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business Administration or a related field.
• You have 10 to 15 years of experience in Production Management, Operations or a similar role, preferably within a complex production environment.
• You are an experienced people leader who knows how to build, coach and develop high-performing teams.
• You have a strong operational leadership profile and know how to translate strategy into clear and effective execution.
• You have a strong production excellence mindset, with a clear focus on safety, quality, efficiency and continuous improvement.
• You are a strategic thinker who can combine the bigger picture with a hands-on approach to operational challenges.
• You have strong problem-solving skills and are able to analyse issues, identify root causes and implement sustainable solutions.
• You are organised, decisive and comfortable taking ownership of operational results and making decisions within your area of responsibility.
• You are comfortable working in both French and English.

What's in it for you?

• You’ll be joining a forward-thinking, stable Belgian food group with international reach — a company where innovation meets craftsmanship.
• Welcoming team & open culture: Our colleagues are ready to welcome you with open arms. We believe in teamwork, a personal approach, and celebrating shared success.
• Growth & development: We offer you the opportunity to grow and become an expert in your role. You’ll be supported by experienced colleagues and encouraged to develop yourself based on your strengths and interests.
• Attractive package: You can count on a competitive salary, complemented by a wide range of benefits.

Who's What’s Cooking Group?

We are a colourful family of food lovers who are eager to satisfy the appetite for conscious, daily meals. Being an innovative food group, we help people serve simple and tasty meals, like lasagne, pasta, pizza, world cuisine, plant-based and regional dishes. You may already know us from Come a casa®, but we also provide food services to professionals, including hotels or restaurants.

For the past 75 years, we have looked at ways of making sustainable consumption a natural daily choice by serving simple and tasty food, prepared with attention to people and planet. We do this with our workforce of 1,650 colleagues, in our Belgian head office, our six industrial plants in Belgium, France, Poland and the UK, and our 5 sales offices.