Operational Excellence Manager

ABP Food Group; Sherborne; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free parking on site

Subsidised staff canteen on site

Training and development opportunities

Monday to Friday working

Cycle to Work scheme

Car Leasing discount scheme

Job summary

ABP UK, part of ABP Food Group, is seeking a Senior Opex lead to manage the site’s Operational Excellence program. You will work with regional lean managers to train leadership, drive improvements, and deliver measurable savings across the site.

You will lead problem-solving, coordinate cross-functional teams, and ensure data-driven progress reports while maintaining food safety and quality standards.

Qualifications

• Ability to lead and motivate senior teams.
• Strong interpersonal and written/oral communication skills.
• Ability to drive change and manage continuous improvement.
• Strategic thinking and planning能力.
• Willingness to work outside regular hours when needed.
• Commitment to high professional ethical standards and teamwork.

Responsibilities

• Track and manage the Opex program spend and achievements.
• Collaborate with regional lean manager to train site leadership on Lean concepts.
• Develop continuous improvement plans addressing site needs.
• Lead structured problem-solving using DMAIC and Root Cause Analysis.
• Ensure issues are closed with corrective actions and lessons learned.
• Provide regular progress reports to site leadership.

Skills

Lean concepts

Leadership

Project management

Problem solving

Communication

Strategic thinking

Multi-tasking

Tools

DMAIC

Job description

Location: On site / Yetminster, Sherborne DT9 6HQ, UK
job type: Permanent / Full-time
Sector and subsector: Agriculture, Fishing, Forestry and Food Processing | General
Salary: Competitive salary

ABP UK is part of ABP Food Group, one of Europe’s leading consumer food producers. With over 60-years of experience. ABP has a reputation for quality and innovation. Our food business specialises in supplying and developing award-winning British beef and lamb products for retail, food service and wholesale customers worldwide.

We work across a number of markets to maximise returns for our farmer suppliers and offer efficiency and value for our customers. From the core of our business in consumer food production, we have companies as diverse as pet food manufacturing to renewable energy, giving our colleagues a broad range of opportunities for progression throughout our group.

Hours of Work:

Monday to Friday, 7.30am - 5.00pm

Reporting To:

General Manager

Personal Specification:

• Ability to understand the whole process from supplier’s supplier to customer’s customer
• Strong interpersonal skills, and proven ability to work in a collaborative and influential manner with a range of colleagues
• Ability to lead, manage and motivate
• Self-confident and decisive in managing change effectively
• Creative and visionary in managing projects and initiatives, and in creating opportunities for business improvement
• Logical, methodical and pragmatic
• Strategic thinking and planning skills
• Demonstrate flexibility as on occasion work may be required outside regular hours or at weekends
• Dynamic, high energy, pro-active, people focussed approach
• Excellent written and oral communication skills – ability to present written reports and documents and influence and persuade at a senior level
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Pro-active approach to planning
• Ability to work to tight deadlines and under pressure within a high-performance, fast-moving environment
• Ability to commit to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace
• Ability to work effectively as part of a senior management team
• Ability to multi-task across a number of disciplines and prioritise work accordingly

Key Responsibilites:

• To track and manage the Opex program spend, input days and achievements
• Work closely with the regional lean manager to train site leadership and other key personnel on Lean concepts with the ABP Operational Excellence deployment strategy
• Spend ample time working with the Regional Opex Lead and other site Opex Managers to develop Opex knowledge and proficiency
• Develop a thorough, effective, and timely continuous improvement plan to address the top needs at the site.
• Identify barriers to deployment of the continuous improvement plan and work with Regional Opex Lead and GM to remove them
• Work with site leadership to update and re-prioritise the plan to maintain focus on the most critical site objectives.
• Lead the site's structured problem-solving process through DMAIC, A3 and Root Cause Analysis methodologies.
• Ensure all major site issues are tracked through to sustainable closure with verified corrective and preventive actions.
• Facilitate cross-functional problem-solving teams involving Operations, Technical, Engineering and Supply Chain functions.
• Ensure learning from completed projects is standardised and embedded within site processes.
• Coach and mentor others on Opex so it becomes engrained in the site culture.
• Develop shop floor experts capable of driving Opex in their areas includingimplementation of CIRFs
• Provide regular reports of data and actions to measure progress against the site objectives.
• Make recommendations, based on site experience to enhance effectiveness of Operational Excellence program in future roll-outs.
• Liaise closely with site Technical team to ensure that suggested activities do not compromise food safety or customer requirements.
• Upholding, safeguarding and promoting the organization’s Vision, Values & Goals philosophies
• Raising the profile of Opex across the Business

• Competitive Salary (On application)
• Training and Development - Clear career paths
• Free parking on site
• Subsidised staff canteen on site offering both hot meals and snacks
• Monday to Friday working
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Car Leasing discount scheme