Plant Operations Manager

Macstaff; Leicester; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance-related bonus

Excellent pension – up to 10% company

Employee benefits and reward programme

Excellent training and professional

Internal career progression

Job summary

Macstaff is recruiting a Facilities Plant Manager to lead outside plant operations at a major Leicester manufacturing site. You will own daily decisions, coach a frontline team and drive operational performance across safety, quality and environment.

The role requires strong leadership, KPI delivery, and a commitment to GMP, continuous improvement and a safe working culture. The position offers a competitive package and long-term career progression within a well-invested UK operation.

Qualifications

• Proven frontline leadership across safety, operations and quality.
• Experience coaching and developing high-performing operational teams.
• Strong safety, compliance and process awareness.
• Experience governing standards and delivering KPI improvements.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing frontline team.
• Own outputs across the area and daily decision-making.
• Champion safety-first culture and safe systems of work.
• Maintain GMP, housekeeping and audit readiness.
• Collaborate with site management and stakeholders to drive improvements.

Skills

Frontline leadership

Safety and compliance

Operations management

Quality management

Problem solving

Communication

Decision making

Continuous improvement

IT literacy (SAP)

Tools

SAP

Microsoft Office

Job description

You will like

Leading facilities, utilities and outside plant operations for a world-class manufacturer at a major, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Leicester, Leicestershire.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Facilities Plant Manager, Facilities Manager, Utilities Manager, Plant Manager or Outside Areas Manager to join a highly successful global organisation offering impressive facilities, significant ongoing investment and genuine career development.

You will take leadership responsibility for specialist outside plant including Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP), wastewater treatment, starch processing and Anaerobic Digestion (AD) operations, leading and developing a frontline team while ensuring safe, compliant and efficient plant performance.

You will like

The Facilities Plant Manager job itself, acting as the key operational leader for your area and taking ownership of daily decision-making, people leadership and plant performance.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading, coaching and developing a high-performing frontline team
• Taking overall responsibility for outputs within your area
• Championing a safety-first culture and established safe systems of work
• Ensuring environmental, quality, food safety and operational standards are maintained
• Driving good manufacturing practice (GMP), housekeeping and audit readiness
• Maintaining governance of process and equipment standards
• Managing attendance, performance and conduct
• Coaching and empowering employees to build a capable, increasingly autonomous team
• Monitoring KPIs and operational performance across a balanced scorecard
• Identifying opportunities for continuous improvement
• Working collaboratively with operations management and wider site stakeholders
• Creating a positive, accountable and high-performance culture

The emphasis is as much on leadership and developing people as technical plant management.

You will have

To succeed as Facilities Plant Manager / Utilities Manager, you will bring strong operational leadership experience from manufacturing, process, utilities, environmental or industrial facilities.

You will ideally demonstrate:

• Proven frontline leadership across safety, operations and quality
• Experience coaching and developing high-performing operational teams
• Strong safety, compliance and process awareness
• Ability to engage, influence and challenge people positively
• Proven delivery against operational KPIs
• Strong communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills
• Experience governing standards and developing positive workplace cultures
• A flexible, adaptable and continuous-improvement mindset
• Good IT literacy including Microsoft applications and ideally SAP

Previous experience of outside areas, wastewater treatment (WWTP), effluent treatment (ETP), anaerobic digestion (AD), starch processing or waste management would be particularly desirable.

You will get

As Facilities Plant Manager, you will enjoy an attractive package including:

• Performance-related bonus
• Excellent pension – up to 10% company contribution
• Employee benefits and reward programme
• Excellent training and professional development
• Genuine internal career progression
• The opportunity to work within a major, highly invested UK manufacturing operation

You'll be joining a substantial Leicester manufacturing facility employing around 1,000 people and benefiting from approximately £60m investment during 2026, offering both long-term stability and excellent scope to develop your career.