Quality Lead

Alexander Steele Recruitment; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Alexander Steele Recruitment is seeking a Quality Leader for a well-established food manufacturing business. The role combines frontline leadership with hands-on coaching, aiming to sustain safety, quality and operational excellence in a fast-paced environment.

You will lead from the front alongside Manufacturing Shift Leads, develop the team, and drive improvements in areas like waste, yield and throughput while maintaining strict GMP and health & safety standards.

Qualifications

• Experience leading teams on a shop floor in manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of H&S, GMP and food safety standards.
• Track record coaching and developing people to high performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support shift teams to deliver safe, efficient production.
• Drive performance against waste, yield, throughput and quality targets.
• Maintain GMP, food safety and health & safety standards across operations.
• Coach and develop colleagues to raise capability and performance.
• Collaborate with other departments to resolve production issues.

Skills

Leadership

Coaching

Health & Safety

Quality Assurance

KPIs (Waste/Throughput)

Communication

Job description

We’re currently supporting a well-established and growing food manufacturing business with the appointment of a Quality Leader.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced manufacturing or production leader who enjoys being hands-on, developing people and driving high standards within a fast-paced operational environment.

The business is continuing to grow and invest in its operations, with a strong focus on automation, continuous improvement and operational excellence. This is an exciting opportunity to join a progressive organisation and play an important role in supporting its continued development.

The Role

As Quality Leader, you’ll play a key frontline leadership role, working closely with Manufacturing Shift Leads to ensure the team consistently delivers against Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery and People objectives.

You’ll lead from the front, maintaining high operational standards while coaching, supporting and developing your team to deliver strong performance.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and support teams on shift to deliver safe, efficient and consistent production.
• Drive performance against key measures including waste, yield, throughput and quality.
• Ensure process standards, GMP, food safety and Health & Safety requirements are consistently maintained.
• Promote a strong safety and quality culture, including the effective reporting of hazards and near misses.
• Coach, motivate and develop colleagues to build capability and improve performance.
• Support continuous improvement activity and reduce process variation through structured problem-solving.
• Use daily management routines, including Leader Standard Work and Short Interval Control, to improve operational performance.
• Work with Shift Leads on workforce planning, staffing requirements and changing production demands.
• Support effective production planning and changeovers.
• Monitor training, skills development and competency across the team.
• Support attendance and performance management in line with company processes.
• Maintain clear and effective communication through shift briefings, handovers and other communication channels.
• Work collaboratively with other departments to resolve issues and maintain smooth production.

This is a hands-on leadership role, so you’ll be comfortable spending time on the shop floor, leading by example and adapting to the changing demands of a busy manufacturing environment.

What are we looking for?

We’re keen to speak with candidates who have:

• Previous experience within a manufacturing, production or food manufacturing environment.
• Experience supervising or leading teams in a shop-floor environment.
• A proven ability to coach, motivate and develop people.
• Good knowledge of Health & Safety, Food Safety and GMP standards.
• Experience working with operational KPIs such as waste, yield, throughput and quality.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Good organisational skills and attention to detail.
• A proactive and adaptable approach, with the resilience to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience with continuous improvement or structured problem-solving methodologies would be advantageous.