Process Lead (12 Month FTC)

PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH; Leicester; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Flexible working

Electric car scheme

Parental leave

Wellbeing benefits

Job summary

PepsiCo UK is seeking a Process Improvement Specialist to drive performance and skills across manufacturing lines. You will lead problem-solving, training, and loss-elimination initiatives, working with line leads and maintenance to sustain improvements.

The role emphasizes coaching, analytical thinking, and cross-site knowledge transfer, with exposure to daily planning and changeovers in a fast-paced production environment.

Qualifications

• Ability to influence technicians, engineering resources and line leads.
• Ability to teach, coach, and develop others.
• On-the-floor technical credibility with the people doing the work.
• Strong communication and active listening; assertive when needed.
• Passion for the work and helping others see losses.
• Commitment to self-development and understanding equipment processes.

Responsibilities

• Participate in daily line meetings and execute the daily plan.
• Centerline (CL) completion and compliance.
• Changeover (CO) adherence to plan and critiques.
• Identify, prioritise, and eliminate process losses.
• Build the process capability and control.
• Lead the change management (CM) and validation processes.
• Lead and build the capability of process troubleshooting.
• Share and reapply learnings across processes, modules and plants.
• Use reliability engineering data to drive centerlining and loss elimination.
• Develop yourself through corporate and external training.

Skills

Influence others

Coaching

Data analysis

Problem-solving

Communication

Leadership

Job description

Overview

At PepsiCo UK, we’re proud to make some of the nation’s favourite snacks and drinks—like Walkers, Quaker, Doritos, Pipers, and Monster Munch. With sites across the UK, including our Quaker mill in Cupar and Doritos factory in Coventry, we’re also home to one of the world’s largest crisp factories in Leicester.

To drive a change to continuously improve performance and skills, which include the following:

• To eliminate process losses on equipment or areas, and to drive standards and problem-solving processes
• To transfer knowledge to the line teams, and to ensure the proper level of skills and qualification successfully deploy the loss elimination skills needed for the line to deliver the line and team goals
• To ensure the lines are not underperforming due to the lack of technical process capability or knowledge
• To provide coaching, teaching, and assessment of problem-solving mechanisms
• To promote reapplication of approaches across the site and the network
• To ensure alignment with both the line lead and maintenance lead, supporting the training and development of equipment / process / area / system owners

Responsibilities

• Actively participating in line daily meetings and in the execution of the daily plan, including reporting on the following results for the previous 24 hours
• Centerline (CL) completion and compliance
• Changeover (CO) adherence to plan and critiques
• Identifying, prioritizing, and eliminating process losses
• Building the process capability and control
• Leading the change management (CM) and validation processes
• Leading and building the capability of process failure technical troubleshooting
• Leading the process of benchmarking and reapplication
• Owning critical daily management systems, e.g., centerlining
• Sharing and reapplying learnings across processes, modules, and plants
• Using reliability engineering (RE) and data analysis tools to drive centerlining and loss elimination
• Developing him/herself through participating in corporate and external training
• Taking part in planned stops and rapid changeovers (RCOs) flowing to the line, as needed

Qualifications

Success in this role requires a unique and complex blend of technical, analytical, creative, business, project management and leadership skills comprising:

• Ability to influence technicians, engineering resources and line leads, as required
• Ability to teach, coach, and develop others
• Have on-the-floor technical credibility with the people doing the work
• Have effective communication skills, including the ability to be an active listener, and also the ability to both positively confront and be assertive, when necessary
• Have a passion for the work, and the drive and ability to help others see the losses
• Be personally committed to the self-development required of the role
• Have an understanding of the equipment’s processes for transforming the product
• Have experience in manufacturing, and the ability to understand the manufacturing process
• Possess a flexible mindset, e.g., a willingness to flow with the work, and to cover training and breaks, as required, to deliver the line key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Be willing to actively participate in planned stops and changeovers (COs), flowing to the work as required
• Ability to use data and logic to problem-solve
• Ability to perform analysis of data

Why Join Us?

We offer a competitive salary, bonus, flexible working, and a wide range of benefits—from critical illness cover and discounted gym memberships to enhanced parental leave and electric car schemes. Our commitment to wellbeing and career growth makes us a Top Employer for 14 years running.

Equal Opportunities

We’re an equal opportunity employer, committed to the Equality Act 2010. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and will provide any necessary adjustments to support you through the recruitment process.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generatednearly$92 billionin net revenue in 2024, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio thatincludes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at thecentreof how we will create value and growth byoperatingwithin planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn @PepsiCo.