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A leading food manufacturing firm in the United Kingdom is seeking a senior leader to oversee site operations. Responsibilities include ensuring production meets performance, quality, and safety targets, and leading continuous improvement initiatives. Ideal candidates will have a proven track record in food or beverage manufacturing, experience in engineering oversight, and strong leadership attributes. This role offers a challenging opportunity to drive operational excellence.
Lead and manage all site operations, with direct accountability for Manufacturing, Engineering, and Technical functions.
Ensure daily production, maintenance, and technical activities meet performance, quality, safety, and compliance targets.
Act as the senior on-site lead, fostering a strong safety-first and continuous improvement culture.
Conduct rapid reviews of site processes, workflows, and performance metrics to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
Implement immediate corrective actions where required to improve output, yield, and reliability.
Drive lean manufacturing and engineering best practices across the site.
Oversee proactive maintenance strategies and capital projects to improve equipment uptime and reliability.
Support the Technical Manager to ensure product quality, food safety, and regulatory compliance are maintained to the highest standards.
Lead cross-functional collaboration between Engineering, Production, and Technical teams to resolve issues quickly and effectively.
Review the current organisational structure and capabilities, providing recommendations for improvement.
Coach and develop site leadership teams to strengthen accountability and communication.
Lead with visibility and integrity, ensuring clear objectives and performance standards are in place.
Proven track record in senior leadership within food or beverage manufacturing, ideally in a fast-paced, multi-line environment.
Strong operational grounding in manufacturing and engineering, with solid understanding of technical / QA functions.
Experience leading troubleshooting, site turnaround, or performance improvement projects.
Demonstrated success in reviewing and redesigning organisational structures, processes, and performance systems.
Strong people leadership and stakeholder management skills, able to quickly build credibility at all levels.
Degree qualified in Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, or equivalent experience preferred.
Experience working in a BRC, retailer-audited, or high-compliance environment.
Hands-on, pragmatic, and results-oriented.
Resilient and decisive under pressure.
Excellent communicator and motivator of cross-functional teams.
Analytical mindset with a structured approach to problem-solving.
Quick to assess, prioritise, and deliver impact