Operations Leader – Manufacturing Excellence

Elevation Recruitment Group; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Howco is seeking an Operations Manager to drive performance across machining, heat treatment, testing and quality control. Reporting to the Regional Director, you will own end-to-end operations, optimise capacity, and lead from the front in a multi-discipline environment.

You will implement lean improvements, manage weekly performance reporting, ensure QHSE compliance, and mentor a high-potential operations team as the business scales.

Qualifications

• Senior operations management experience in an engineering environment.
• Track record of leading multi-disciplined teams across end-to-end order-to-despatch.
• Proven delivery of operational KPIs including SQDC metrics.
• Competency in Lean, Six Sigma or CI frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational excellence and continuous improvement programmes to drive efficiency and profitability.
• Implement visual management and data-driven capacity planning and daily operations meetings.
• Drive collaboration across departments to create a one business mindset.
• Identify and deliver process improvement and capital expenditure projects for future needs.
• Ensure compliance with QHSE legislation and promote safe working culture.
• Mentor and develop the operational team, focusing on high-potential individuals.
• Produce weekly/monthly performance reports for Directors to enable data-led decisions.

Skills

Operational leadership

Multi-disciplinary teams

Lean / Six Sigma

Data-driven decision making

Education

HNC/HND level or equivalent

Tools

ERP/MRP systems

Job description

Howco is seeking an Operations Manager to drive performance across machining, heat treatment, testing and quality control. Reporting to the Regional Director, you will own end-to-end operations, optimise capacity, and lead from the front in a multi-discipline environment.

You will implement lean improvements, manage weekly performance reporting, ensure QHSE compliance, and mentor a high-potential operations team as the business scales.