Manufacturing Excellence Lead

GAP Ltd.; Blackburn; Hybrid; GBP 81,000 - 99,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Influential leadership role

Shape manufacturing strategy

Collaborative environment

Career progression

Mon-Fri working

Job summary

General All-Purpose Plastics Ltd is seeking a Head of Manufacturing to lead our production operations across locations, driving safety, quality, efficiency and a culture of accountability.

You will collaborate with senior management, engineering, quality, logistics, and commercial teams to deliver high-quality products safely and consistently while developing our manufacturing strategy and capabilities.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a senior manufacturing, production, or operations leadership role.
• Experience managing manufacturing teams and delivering production performance in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, production planning, lean principles, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Knowledge of health and safety, quality assurance, environmental, and regulatory requirements within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong analytical, commercial, organisational, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and interpersonal abilities.
• Experience managing budgets, performance metrics, operational costs, and improvement programmes.
• The ability to build effective relationships across all levels of an organisation.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and manufacturing or enterprise resource planning systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the manufacturing function, ensuring production targets, quality standards, and customer requirements are consistently achieved.
• Develop and implement manufacturing strategies aligned with wider business objectives.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across production, processes, systems, and workflows.
• Monitor manufacturing performance through key performance indicators, identifying trends and implementing corrective actions where required.
• Ensure all production activities comply with health and safety, environmental, quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead, coach, and develop production managers, supervisors, and wider manufacturing teams.
• Promote a positive culture focused on safety, quality, customer service, efficiency, and employee engagement.
• Work collaboratively with engineering and maintenance teams to improve equipment reliability and minimise downtime.
• Manage production planning, capacity, resource allocation, and operational efficiency.
• Support the introduction of new products, equipment, technologies, and manufacturing processes.
• Manage manufacturing budgets and identify opportunities to improve productivity and control costs.
• Prepare regular operational reports and present manufacturing performance to senior leadership.

Skills

Leadership experience

Lean manufacturing

Operational excellence

HSE & quality

Cross-functional leadership

Budget management

Data analysis

Tools

Microsoft Office

ERP systems

Job description

General All-Purpose Plastics Ltd is seeking a Head of Manufacturing to lead our production operations across locations, driving safety, quality, efficiency and a culture of accountability.

You will collaborate with senior management, engineering, quality, logistics, and commercial teams to deliver high-quality products safely and consistently while developing our manufacturing strategy and capabilities.