Operations Manager - Food Manufacturing - Senior Operational Leadership

We are supporting a well-established and highly respected food manufacturing business in the search for an experienced Operations Manager to lead a large-scale food production operation.

This is a senior operational leadership role responsible for driving performance, efficiency, and continuous improvement across a fast-paced production environment making high-volume food products.

If you are passionate about leading teams, improving operational performance, and delivering high-quality food production at scale, this will be an excellent opportunity to make a significant impact.

The Opportunity

As Operations Manager you will take ownership of a complex production operation running across multiple shifts.

You will lead a team of 3 direct reports and approximately 80 production colleagues, overseeing both manual and highly automated production processes, including high-speed lines producing up to 8,000 units per hour.

Working closely with your senior operational leadership team, you will be instrumental in:

* Driving labour efficiency and operational performance

* Improving equipment effectiveness and reducing downtime

* Leading continuous improvement initiatives

* Ensuring world-class quality, hygiene and food safety standards

* Developing a highly engaged and high-performing production team

This is a hands-on leadership role where you will be expected to balance people leadership, operational control and strategic improvement.

What We're Looking For :

We're keen to speak with experienced operations leaders from fast-paced manufacturing environments, particularly within food production.

You will likely have:

* Proven experience in a senior production or operations management role

* Experience managing large operational teams across multiple shifts

* Strong understanding of automated and manual production processes

* A track record of delivering labour efficiency improvements and operational performance gains

* Strong leadership skills with the ability to engage teams at all levels

* A passion for continuous improvement and people development

Experience within food manufacturing environments would be highly advantageous