Line Leader – End-to-End Production & Quality

Danish Crown A/S; Rochdale; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Danish Crown UK is seeking a Line Leader for its Rochdale production line. You will be responsible for end‑to‑end line performance, safety, quality, yield and labour targets on a single production line.

You will lead and coach operatives, ensure line start‑ups, manage staffing to plan and work with the Area Supervisor to maintain safety and quality standards while driving continuous improvement and daily operational performance.

Qualifications

• Experience in food production or manufacturing environment.
• Strong people leadership capability.
• Good understanding of quality and food safety standards.
• Ability to make decisions under pressure.
• Clear communicator with strong on‑the‑line presence.
• Comfortable working with data and performance targets.

Responsibilities

• Lead and run the production line throughout the shift.
• Ensure the line starts on time and operates to plan.
• Deploy labour in line with agreed manning standards.
• Maintain line balance and flow to achieve output targets.
• Escalate issues promptly to Area Supervisor and Deputy PM.
• Own quality at source — defects are prevented, not passed on.
• Ensure correct settings, specifications and standards are followed at all times.
• Act immediately on quality deviations, yield losses or rework generation.
• Work closely with Optimisers to control yield and minimise giveaway.
• Ensure by‑products and rework are correctly sorted at the point of creation.
• Run daily start‑up checks, handovers and lead performance centre delivery.
• Ensure SOPs and standard work are followed.
• Monitor pace, output, waste and downtime in real time.
• Support effective changeovers and minimise disruption.
• Raise maintenance, technical or quality issues without delay.
• Ensure quality is embedded in every step of the process.
• Complete CCP, quality, and food safety checks at required frequency
• Ensure products meet the standards within the QAS
• Stop the line when required to protect food safety or quality.
• Ensure traceability, hygiene and audit standards are upheld.
• Communicate line status clearly to Area Supervisor.
• Participate in short interval control (SIC) discussions.
• Share issues, risks and improvement opportunities openly.
• Support continuous improvement by feeding back ideas and problems.
• Line output vs plan achieved
• Labour deployed within plan
• Yield targets met
• Rework and waste reduced
• Minimal downtime and disruption
• High attendance and engagement on the line

Skills

People leadership

Quality awareness

Decision making under pressure

Data driven

Communication

Food safety knowledge

Job description

Danish Crown UK is seeking a Line Leader for its Rochdale production line. You will be responsible for end‑to‑end line performance, safety, quality, yield and labour targets on a single production line.

You will lead and coach operatives, ensure line start‑ups, manage staffing to plan and work with the Area Supervisor to maintain safety and quality standards while driving continuous improvement and daily operational performance.