Night Production Manager

The work - Your 4 most important responsibilities

• People Safety - Lead a safety-first shift where procedures are followed, hazards and near misses are reported, and unsafe behaviours are challenged immediately.
• Product Quality - Ensure products meet quality, BOM and GMP standards through trained people, regular checks and prompt corrective action to prevent HOLD stock and non-conformances.
• Operational Efficiency - Own delivery of the night shift production plan, making effective decisions on labour, priorities, downtime escalation and recovery actions to control cost, waste and performance. Identify and communicate practical improvement opportunities that reduce cost, waste and downtime.
• Team Leadership & Development - Motivate, coach, and develop the team, ensuring performance management, training, and clear communication are at the forefront. Set clear expectations, provide regular feedback and address poor performance, conduct or attendance early and consistently.

Accountability – what you are responsible for delivering

• Delivery of the weekly production plan while controlling cost and efficiency. This includes meeting production targets within BOM rates and standard costs, allocating labour effectively to minimise overtime and agency spend, improving changeover times, reducing waste through root-cause analysis, and ensuring accurate back-to-stock returns to maintain stock integrity.
• Maintaining high quality and food safety standards, preventing NCRs and HOLD stock, investigating issues properly, and putting corrective actions in place to stop repeat problems. It also includes keeping the area audit-ready through a strong Clean-As-You-Go culture and managing production trials with accurate documentation, communication, and post-trial review.
• Leading a safety-first culture, ensuring policies and legal requirements are followed, managing risks through assessments and clear procedures, assigning safety-critical tasks only to trained people, identifying training needs, and ensuring accidents or near misses are reported, investigated, and followed up with corrective actions to prevent repeat incidents.
• Setting clear objectives, managing performance through OKRs, 1-2-1s and coaching, recognising and motivating strong performance, communicating expectations clearly, addressing absence, performance and conduct issues early and fairly, supporting employee relations cases, and building team capability through targeted training and development.
• Ensuring clear shift handovers, escalating and resolving downtime issues with Line Leaders and Engineers, keeping the team updated through toolbox talks, maintaining accurate SAP and CMMS data, and using production and cost data to identify trends, reduce waste, improve efficiency, and drive performance improvements.

Capability - the skills and behaviours required to do this job well

• Health & safety focus and awareness – Fully committed to safe working practices and compliance.
• Strong leadership & communication – Ability to engage, coach, and motivate a diverse production team.
• Problem-solving & decision-making – Capable of quickly diagnosing issues and implementing effective solutions.
• Numeracy, literacy & IT proficiency – Able to interpret BOMs, production data, and KPIs, while utilising manufacturing software effectively.
• Attention to detail & organisation – Ensures accuracy in quality checks, compliance records, and production execution.
• Resilience & adaptability – Thrives in a fast-paced, high-pressure manufacturing environment.
• Awareness of Lean principles – Capable of applying lean methodologies including 5 “Whys” and Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and drive continuous improvement.

Performance – how you will know you are doing a great job

• Your team operates safely, with zero major safety incidents or accidents on shift, and safety engagement levels meeting or exceeding targets.
• Production targets are consistently achieved, with efficiency, downtime, and costs controlled and within agreed thresholds.
• Quality standards are upheld, with minimal NCRs and zero HOLD stock due to process failures.
• Your team is engaged and developing, with clear objectives 1-2-1s, performance reviews, and Personal Performance Plans in place.
• Continuous improvement initiatives deliver measurable results, waste, downtime, and inefficiencies reducing continuously over time.
• Your leadership fosters a positive and productive work environment, resulting in high team morale, strong retention, and minimal staff turnover.
• Specific metrics will be set when in role and will be reviewed and built upon regularly. Alongside this, you will be supported with a personal performance plan that will enable you to continue improving your own performance and impact.

Attributes – experience and mindset that will enable you to do well in this role.

• Food manufacturing experience – Prior experience in a shift management role within a food or FMCG environment.
• Proven leadership ability – Capable of developing and managing a high-performing team.
• Process-driven & results-oriented – Strong focus on achieving targets while maintaining compliance and quality.
• Forward operational planning – Able to balance short-term operational demands with long-term improvements and projects.
• High ethical standards & accountability – Upholds company values and ensures integrity in decision-making.

Science in Sport Group is an equal opportunity employer; we value diversity and strive to cultivate an inclusive workplace. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind in regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We fully support reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, to provide an inclusive and welcoming recruitment experience.