Operations Manager - Plant Tiel

CHEP; Tiel; On-site; EUR 72,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

CHEP is seeking an Operations Lead at the Tiel plant to manage a team of 8 direct reports and up to 85 indirect staff. You will drive safety, performance and continuous improvement while acting as a key partner to the Plant Manager.

The role combines people leadership with hands-on operations, focusing on cost control, quality, and end-to-end process enhancements across a blue-collar production environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in production, manufacturing or an equivalent field.
• NEBOSH qualification or equivalent.
• Certifications or training in production management, safety, quality control, or lean manufacturing desirable.

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on leadership by mentoring, coaching, and guiding employees, addressing employee relations issues, and fostering a positive and productive work environment.
• Lead and enhance safety performance on shift, promoting a proactive safety culture through training, accident prevention and rehabilitation programs, ensuring compliance with safety standards.
• Manage shift maintenance activities, resolving equipment breakdowns with the maintenance team to maintain uninterrupted plant operations.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives on shift, implementing best practices to enhance efficiency, quality, and cost-effectiveness across end-to-end operations.
• Monitor and manage the plant's operational costs and yield, working with the Plant Manager to optimize performance and contribute to plant objectives.
• Address performance and attendance matters in collaboration with HR, ensuring staff meet operational expectations.
• Ensure full compliance with CHEP procedures and work instructions, completing tasks accurately and in line with standards and goals.

Skills

Team leadership

Production & distribution

Safety leadership

Risk assessment

Communication

Problem solving

English language

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

NEBOSH qualification

Job description

Ready to take the lead in a high-impact manufacturing environment? As Operations Lead in our Tiel plant, you'll manage a team of 8 direct reports (up to 85 colleagues indirectly), drive safety, performance, and continuous improvement, and act as the right hand of the Plant Manager. This is a fantastic opportunity to combine people leadership with operational excellence and make a visible impact on plant success.

Key Responsibilities May Include:

• Provide hands-on leadership by mentoring, coaching, and guiding employees, addressing employee relations issues, and fostering a positive and productive work environment.
• Lead and enhance safety performance on shift, promoting a proactive safety culture through training, accident prevention, and rehabilitation programs, ensuring compliance with safety standards.
• Manage shift maintenance activities, resolving equipment breakdowns in coordination with the maintenance team to maintain uninterrupted plant operations.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives on shift, implementing best practices to enhance efficiency, quality, and cost-effectiveness across end to end operations.
• Monitor and manage the plant's operational costs and yield, working closely with the Plant Manager to optimize performance and contribute to the overall plant objectives.
• Address performance and attendance matters in collaboration with HR, ensuring that all plant staff meet operational expectations.
• Ensure full compliance with CHEP procedures and work instructions, ensuring tasks are completed accurately and in line with company standards and operational goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree of equivalent in experience
• NEBOSH Qualification or equivalent
• Certifications or training programs in areas such as production management, safety, quality control, and lean manufacturing are desirable

Skills and Experience

• 3+ years of experience within a fast-paced production & distribution operation/ factory or related industry, including experience in a supervisory or team management role
• Experience of leading Zero Harm including learning teams and investigations, assessing risk and developing risk assessments
• Experience of delivering a high performance team in a blue collar environment.
• A strong understanding of the production process, quality control, safety regulations, and other relevant industry standards
• Technical skills – The ability to understand the operation process and the ways to improve it
• Communication Skills – Strong written and verbal communication skills, a need to communicate with team members, upper management, and other stakeholders
• Problem solving Skills – Must be able to identify problems in the production process and implement solutions quickly and effectively
• Strong English language skills are essential for this role; Dutch, German or any other Eastern European language are a plus

CHEP helps move more goods to more people, in more places than any other organization on earth via our 347 million pallets, crates and containers. We employ approximately 13,000 people and operate in 60 countries. Through our pioneering and sustainable share-and-reuse business model, the world's biggest brands trust us to help them transport their goods more efficiently, safely and with less environmental impact.