Leading UK Manufacturer
Basic Salary: Dependent on experience
Location: Cheshire
Benefits: Car allowance, bonus scheme, private healthcare, pension, life insurance and a comprehensive benefits package
The Role:
Ready to take full ownership of a fast‑paced manufacturing operation and drive real, measurable impact? We’re looking for an experienced Operations Director, with a background in Manufacturing and Operations to work as part of the SLT team to deliver the Operations strategy for the facility.
You will have full responsibility for delivering manufacturing targets and will be instrumental in ensuring quality standards are met, whilst ensuring the highest levels of service and performance, order fulfilment, improvements and savings are met.
What you’ll be doing
- In this position you will provide high-level strategic leadership and direction across the full site operations – ensuring all aspects including people, processes and systems are maximised to delivery site and company objectives.
- You will hold P&L responsibility for the full operation, managing costs of overheads and sales. Whilst understanding manufacturing variances and stock variances are captured and monitored on internal systems.
- Leading manufacturing, warehouse and engineering teams to maximise output and efficiency
- Support the Engineering Manager in identifying and managing Capex. This will involve submitting, supporting and presenting on Capex documentation to the SLT team.
- Driving KPI performance across OEE, OTIF, cycle time, stock management and more. You will prioritise the site target of 95% OTIF is both achieved and maintained.
- KPI’s to be reviewed daily, weekly and monthly and should correlate to the Shop Floor data capture and machine logging to maximise operational excellence whilst developing trends on Power BI dashboards.
- Review BoM/BoO structures and ensure the highest level of production standards are fit for purpose and utilised efficiently and effectively across the factory and all work areas.
- Overseeing the Operations Manager in production planning, scheduling and ERP utilisation whilst ensuring Epicor is being utilised effectively. Lead and manage the Operations Manager on their utilisation of the Warehouse Manager and Team Leaders are managed effectively on both people and equipment resources.
- Support the Operations Manager in creating the appropriate tools to provide the Commercial Team on lead times, specifically on large project/volume orders and MTO items are effectively utilising capacity planning tools available .
- Embedding strong safety culture and ensuring full compliance with ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. This will involve assisting with ISO audit requests and reviewing the ISO structure along with the QHSE Manager and making any recommendations for improvement.
- Effectively manage risks by ensuring and planned maintenance is scheduled to minimise production downtime, supporting the Engineering Manager with any breakdowns are analysed to root cause to prevent any reoccurrences.
- Managing resources, developing people, and building a high‑performing, cross‑skilled workforce. This will include detailed training, development plans, time and attendance recording. Ensuring fair and consistent application of company time, attendance, conduct, performance, and disciplinary policies, escalating and managing significant employee issues in partnership with HR and senior leadership.
- Support on investigations on root cause analysis of goods that don’t meet quality standards and use standards to pursue continual improvements and discuss statutory and non-statutory inspections, producing corrective actions, managing costs and prevent reoccurrences.
- Collaborating with Procurement, Commercial and Logistics to strengthen supply chain performance
What you’ll bring
- Proven leadership in manufacturing, production or operations management – leading teams of circa 100+ is beneficial
- Must have operated at a Senior level with a proven record of implementing and executing strategy’s to drive operational improvements whilst reducing costs
- Strong operational financial acumen – reporting on profit and loss as well as Capex expenditure
- Strong track record of delivering improvements and driving performance though Continuous Improvements e.g. 5S, Kaizen and SixSigma
- Experience of driving KPI performance across OEE, OTIF, cycle etc
- Experience with ERP systems and data‑driven decision making