DS Smith
General Manager Louth (Northfields)

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General Manager
Louth | DS Smith | Full-time
We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced General Manager to join our manufacturing site in Louth, leading the safe, efficient and successful operation of the site and its people.
As General Manager, you will have overall responsibility for site performance, creating a strong culture of safety, engagement, accountability and continuous improvement. You will lead the operation to deliver exceptional customer service while ensuring high standards of quality, efficiency and compliance.
A key part of the role will be building strong relationships across the wider DS Smith business, working collaboratively with other sites and functions to optimise performance and support our wider supply chain.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the safe, efficient and compliant operation of the site, delivering against customer, quality, service and financial performance expectations.
- Create a positive, engaged and accountable culture, developing leaders and colleagues to achieve high performance.
- Drive operational efficiency and continuous improvement, identifying opportunities to improve productivity, reduce waste and optimise costs.
- Ensure full compliance with DS Smith standards, industry requirements and all applicable legal and regulatory obligations.
- Champion Health & Safety, ensuring a proactive approach to risk management and creating a strong safety culture across the site.
- Work collaboratively across the wider business and cluster to support supply chain optimisation and share best practice.
- Maintain a strong focus on quality and customer service, ensuring the site consistently meets customer expectations.
- Act as a senior representative and ambassador for DS Smith within the local community, building strong relationships with key stakeholders.
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About You
We are looking for an experienced manufacturing leader who can combine strong operational leadership with a genuine focus on people and performance. You will be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, making decisions, driving change and bringing people with you.
You will ideally have:
- Significant leadership experience within a manufacturing or operational environment.
- A strong track record of delivering improvements in safety, quality, service, cost and productivity.
- Experience leading and developing teams through a culture of accountability, engagement and continuous improvement.
- Strong commercial and operational awareness, with the ability to understand performance data and turn it into action.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across functions and at all levels.
- A proactive and collaborative leadership style, with the ambition to continually improve both the operation and the experience of our people.
If you are an experienced manufacturing leader looking for an opportunity to make a real impact, lead a high-performing team and play a key role within the wider DS Smith business, we’d love to hear from you.


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What We Can Offer You:
- Competitive salary
- Performance related bonus
- Qualifying Sick Pay scheme
- Pension scheme & Life insurance
- Share Save scheme
- Income Protection
- 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Virtual GP, Occupational Health & free Flu vaccine
- Cycle to Work and shopping discounts
We are DS Smith, together with International Paper, we are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. We employ more than 65,000 colleagues in North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), who are experts in innovation, manufacturing, design, sales, sustainability, supply chain, and much more. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Become part of a world-leading organisation and do your best work with us!
Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.
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