Lead Operator - Days

Yeo Valley; Crewkerne; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A British dairy company based in Crewkerne seeks a team member to support production and supply chain activities. You will ensure safety standards and operational excellence while fostering teamwork and continuous improvement. The ideal candidate has experience as a machine operator and strong communication skills. Benefits include a non-contributory pension and discounts on products.

Benefits

Non-contributory pension scheme

Life cover

Cycle-to-work scheme

Subsidized products and services

Partner discounts

Learning and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Good team working skills.
• Ability to undertake manual tasks.
• Attention to detail.
• Effective communication skills.
• Basic food hygiene knowledge.
• Knowledge of HACCP.
• Relevant experience as a machine operator in a production environment.

Responsibilities

• Ensure operational activities are completed to the highest standards.
• Lead team involvement in Health & Safety aspects.
• Participate in and govern the quality management system.
• Maintain good manufacturing practices.
• Train, coach, and mentor team members.

Job description

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As a lead member of the team, you will be supporting the production or supply chain team on the site. You will be involved in the planning, coordination, and optimization of all resources in a defined area of work. You will be the go-to person in the team for support, ensuring operational activities are completed to the highest standards of safety, product quality, and service levels, enabling the team to deliver excellent products to customers.

Working with the teams in your area and the wider site team, you will ensure the team can work productively and effectively. Through resource coordination across multiple assets and performance improvement meetings, you will optimize asset utilization and raw material use.

Key responsibilities:

• Demonstrate a commitment to Health & Safety by working safely, role modeling safety behaviors, challenging unsafe practices, rectifying unsafe conditions, and escalating issues when support is needed.
• Lead team involvement in all Health & Safety aspects to support ongoing safety improvements.
• Escalate any food safety breaches or quality issues, ensure defective products are identified, held, and issues are escalated, resolved, and released appropriately.
• Participate in and govern the quality management system, ensuring controls and procedures are effectively completed to validate food safety and exceed customer expectations.
• Maintain good manufacturing practices, hygiene standards, PPE, and dress code.
• Model a 'Clean as You Go' approach, leading workplace organization and visual management standards.
• Work with the Technical team to understand audit non-conformances and consumer complaints, managing communications and actions to prevent recurrence.
• Facilitate Short Interval Control Reviews, establishing actions and ownership for continuous improvement and resource coordination.
• Analyze asset performance, identify opportunities, and support performance and yield improvements.
• Engage in changeover optimization, identifying opportunities for asset utilization improvements.
• Share performance data with the team, linking their roles to overall success.
• Record downtime and raw material usage accurately and timely to support improvement initiatives.
• Undertake basic fault finding and equipment troubleshooting, supporting root cause analysis and escalation when needed.
• Ensure equipment is properly cared for through validated cleaning and compliance with schedules.
• Train, coach, and mentor team members to build capability to the highest standard.
• Implement and suggest improvements within and outside the team across shifts.
• Collaborate across teams, ensuring effective handovers and identifying challenges and opportunities.
• Motivate the team with enthusiasm, taking prompt action and encouraging others to do the same.

What do I need?

• Good team working skills
• Ability to undertake manual tasks
• Attention to detail
• Effective communication skills
• Basic food hygiene knowledge
• Knowledge of HACCP
• Relevant experience as a machine operator in a production environment

Why join us?

We’re an independent, British company proud to produce high-quality yogurts, desserts, and ice cream under the Yeo Valley brand. Operating from four dairies and two logistics centers in Somerset and Devon, we employ over 1700 staff and produce more than 25% of the UK’s packaged yogurt.

We offer benefits such as:

• Non-contributory pension scheme
• Life cover
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Subsidized Yeo Valley products and services
• Partner discounts
• Learning and development opportunities to support your growth