Elevation Recruitment Group
Director of Manufacturing
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Director of Manufacturing
Director of Manufacturing
Multi-Site Food Manufacturing Leadership
- Salary: £150,000 – £160,000+
- Bonus & Benefits: Bonus + Car Allowance + Benefits
We're supporting a major UK food manufacturing and ingredients business on the appointment of a Director of Manufacturing to lead operational performance, leadership capability, and continuous improvement across a portfolio of manufacturing sites.
This is a high-impact senior leadership role with responsibility for multiple manufacturing facilities, leading Factory Managers and Site Leadership Teams across a complex food manufacturing operation.
The business operates highly automated, process-led manufacturing sites, supplying major UK retail, foodservice, and industrial customers.
This is an opportunity to influence manufacturing performance at scale while remaining close enough to operations to drive meaningful change and improvement.
The Opportunity
Reporting into the Group Operations Director, the Director of Manufacturing will be responsible for:
- Improving operational performance
- Developing site leadership capability
- Creating greater consistency across manufacturing operations
The focus is on:
- Building a culture of accountability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement
- Supporting future growth and manufacturing capability
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You will play a key role in driving:
- Manufacturing performance improvement across multiple sites
- Leadership development and succession planning
- Continuous Improvement and Lean manufacturing initiatives
- Production capacity and throughput optimisation
- Quality, service, and customer performance
- Cost reduction and productivity enhancement
- Standardisation of best practice across manufacturing operations
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, coach, and develop Factory Managers and Site Leadership Teams across multiple manufacturing facilities
- Drive improvements in safety, quality, service, and cost performance
- Increase manufacturing efficiency, productivity, and operational discipline
- Improve OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), waste reduction, labour utilisation, and OTIF (On-Time In-Full) performance
- Embed Continuous Improvement and Lean manufacturing methodologies across sites
- Develop operational capability and leadership successions plans
- Partner with Engineering, Supply Chain, Technical, and Commercial functions to improve overall business performance
- Support capital investment projects and future manufacturing capability planning
- Create consistency in operational standards, reporting, and accountability across the group
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Candidate Profile
We are seeking experienced manufacturing leaders who have operated within complex food, ingredients, beverage or FMCG manufacturing environments.
You will likely bring:
- Proven multi-site manufacturing leadership experience
- Experience leading Factory Managers, Site Leaders, or Plant Managers
- Strong knowledge of Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement methodologies
- A track record of improving OEE, productivity, capacity, and quality performance
- Experience within highly automated, process-led manufacturing environments
- Strong people leadership and coaching capability
- The ability to influence operational performance through others
- Commercial awareness and a data-driven approach to decision-making
Most importantly, you will be a visible and credible leader, capable of:
- Developing teams
- Creating accountability
- Driving sustainable operational improvement across multiple sites
Package
- £150,000 – £160,000 Base Salary
- Performance Bonus
- Car Allowance
- Pension & Benefits
- Long-Term Career Progression
Confidential Process
This appointment is being managed on a retained and highly confidential basis.
For a confidential discussion, please contact: Carl
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