OPERATIONS AREA DIRECTOR - Food Industry

Tailor&Fox Srl; Roma; In loco; EUR 100.000 - 110.000; Tempo pieno

Vantaggi offerti da questo lavoro

Company car

Annual bonus

Descrizione del lavoro

Tailor&Fox Srl, on behalf of a multinational services company, seeks an Operations Area Director for a large food industry site in Rome. You will lead production, warehousing, and logistic operations, balancing safety, quality, and delivery in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities include P&L ownership, budgeting, CAPEX planning, and driving continuous improvement while ensuring regulatory compliance and ethical conduct. You will manage ~300 staff and report to HQ.

Competenze

• University degree in Engineering, Economics, or equivalent
• 5–8 years of experience in senior site/plant/operations management
• Experience in large-scale food production environments
• Fluency in English

Mansioni

• Lead end-to-end site operations including production, logistics, and maintenance.
• Own the site P&L, budgets, and capital expenditure plans.
• Drive make-or-buy decisions balancing cost, quality, and risk.
• Develop workforce Plans and lead the site leadership team.
• Act as change leader for organization design, processes, and tools.
• Ensure compliance with Quality, Safety, Environment, and Ethics standards.
• Deliver continuous improvement through lean initiatives and digitalization.
• Report to Headquarters and align site with corporate strategy.

Conoscenze

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Financial acumen

Stakeholder management

Decision making

Change leadership

Continuous improvement

Problem solving

Operations leadership

Formazione

University degree (Engineering, Economics, or equivalent)

Descrizione del lavoro

Tailor&Fox – your HR Business Partner, on behalf of a leading multinational services company, with a strong people-centric culture and a solid commitment to quality, and improvement, is looking to strengthen its Operations Area by recruiting an:

OPERATIONS AREA DIRECTOR – Food Industry

This profile will be accountable for the overall performance of a large, complex operational site in a fast-paced, time-critical environment.
The role ensures safe, efficient, high-quality end-to-end service delivery while leading the site through a significant transformation across strategy, organisation, people, processes, operating methods, and performance control systems.

The position combines a strong sense of urgency and hands-on operational leadership with a medium- to long-term strategic vision, ensuring immediate operational stability while building sustainable, structured, and scalable solutions.

The role carries full responsibility for operational excellence, financial sustainability, people leadership, regulatory compliance, ethical conduct, and customer satisfaction, in line with corporate standards, client requirements, and applicable local and international regulations.

The position oversees all activities related to production, warehousing and operations, internal logistics, and last-mile service delivery to external interfaces, with a workforce of approximately 300 employees.

Key responsibilities:

1. Overall Site Leadership

• Hold full accountability for the end-to-end management of the site, including production, operational logistics, transport services, and support functions.
• Ensure operational continuity, safety, quality, and on-time service delivery in a high-pressure, fast-moving operating environment.
• Act as the senior company representative towards clients, regulatory bodies, and local stakeholders.
• Ensure site operations are consistently aligned with corporate standards, contractual commitments, and customer expectations.

2. Financial Governance, Investments & Performance

• Own the site Profit & Loss and ensure long-term economic sustainability.
• Prepare and manage annual budgets and periodic forecasts in coordination with Headquarters.
• Define, prioritize, and manage site investment plans (CAPEX), ensuring alignment with operational needs, safety requirements, and return on investment.
• Monitor costs, productivity, service performance, and margins.
• Identify risks and drive corrective actions and cost-optimization initiatives without compromising quality, safety, or compliance.

3. Operations Management & Decision Making

• Define the operational organization model and production plans to meet demand, service levels, and efficiency targets.
• Lead and supervise site functional managers (e.g. Production, Quality, Transport, Maintenance, Logistics).
• Ensure consistent application of operational procedures, technical standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Manage critical situations, disruptions, and operational emergencies with speed, clarity, and authority.
• Take timely and well-balanced decisions, including difficult and high-impact choices, in conditions of uncertainty and operational pressure.
• Evaluate and govern make-or-buy decisions related to production, logistics, and support activities, balancing cost efficiency, service quality, flexibility, and operational risk.

4. Workforce Planning & People Leadership

• Define and continuously review workforce planning in line with demand variability, productivity targets, and service requirements.
• Ensure optimal staffing models, shift structures, and skill mix to support operational performance and cost control.
• Directly manage the site leadership team and provide clear direction, priorities, and objectives.
• Set individual and functional goals aligned with business strategy and operational KPIs.
• Drive performance management, talent development, and succession planning.
• Promote a strong safety culture, accountability, and alignment with company values.

5. Change Management & Transformation

• Lead and govern complex change initiatives affecting organization design, operating models, processes, tools, methods, and control systems.
• Translate strategic direction into pragmatic and executable operational actions.
• Balance immediate operational fixes with the implementation of structured, long-term solutions.
• Act as a visible and credible change leader, engaging managers and employees through clarity, consistency, and discipline.

6. Quality, Safety, Compliance & Ethics

• Ensure full compliance with Quality, Health, Safety, Environment, and Security standards.
• Partner with Quality and Compliance functions for internal and external audits.
• Ensure timely and effective management of non-conformities, incidents, and corrective actions.
• Maintain robust governance over risk management and regulatory adherence.
• Uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct, integrity, and transparency, setting the tone from the top.

7. Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Champion continuous improvement initiatives focused on efficiency, reliability, and service quality.
• Collaborate with Innovation and Continuous Improvement teams to implement new processes, tools, and technologies.
• Support digitalization, automation, and standardization initiatives across the site.
• Foster a culture of operational discipline, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.

8. Interface with Headquarters

• Ensure alignment of site operations with corporate strategy, policies, and governance frameworks.
• Provide structured and accurate reporting on operational, financial, workforce, and investment performance.
• Actively contribute to cross-functional and transversal corporate projects.

Key Competencies

• Strong and credible leadership in complex, fast-paced, labour-intensive operational environments.
• Ability to combine sense of urgency with strategic thinking and structured execution.
• End-to-end operational mindset combined with solid financial and investment acumen.
• Decisive, resilient, and accountable decision-maker, comfortable with ambiguity and pressure.
• Proven change leadership and transformation capability.
• Excellent stakeholder management and negotiation skills.
• Strong ethical compass, integrity, and role-model behavior.

Requirements

• University degree (Engineering, Economics, or equivalent – preferred).
• 5–8 years of experience in Senior Site, Plant, or Operations Management role, with full responsibility for operational performance and team leadership.
• Experience in large-scale, industrial or food production environments is highly desirable.
• Strong exposure to regulated, safety-critical, and time-sensitive operations.
• Fluency in English.

Place of work: Rome (Italy).

Compensation: The position will be offered with an executive-level employment contract, with a competitive annual gross salary in the range of €100,000–€110,000, plus a 20% performance-based bonus and company car.