Continuous Improvement Manager

At Premier Foods, our purpose is to create the food our nation loves most for modern life. And we’ve been doing it for a long time - many of our much-loved brands have been part of UK life for more than a century.

Continuous Improvement Manager

Full time, permanent

Based in Moreton

ROLE PURPOSE

Support the Operations Manager as part of the Operations management team to identify and drive Continuous Improvement behaviours and results.

KEY RESPONSIBILTIES

Performance Management

• Lead, manage and facilitate the Moreton Premier Foods site’s continuous improvement journey in all areas of the business (Operational Excellence)
• Engage with all site teams at all levels to identify and deliver improvements across a continuous 24 hour operation that demonstrates an ongoing improvement in Health, Safety, Security, Environment, Quality (HSSEQ), profitability, OEE / Efficiency, Yield, Downtime, Service Delivery, Standards, Flexibility, Agility and Responsiveness to ‘The Voice of the Customer’
• Link with the wider Premier Foods Manufacturing Excellence team to identify and adopt best practice and to show-case Moreton’s Continuous Improvement activities
• Delivery of action-focussed interventions, targeting performance improvements in line with factory targets
• Improved OEE / Efficiency performance across all Production areas
• Improved Yield through reduction of waste in line with targets
• Identify opportunities to improve or streamline the Autonomous Maintenance (AM) process to improve Plant reliability
• Develop processes to improve Maintenance activities including appropriate Root Cause Analysis for 100 year fixes
• Formulation and execution of plans to reduce unproductive downtime across all areas
• Implementation of Continuous Improvement tools and techniques in order to deliver increased performance in all areas of the business

Team Management

Lead, manage and facilitate the Continuous Improvement journey for the Moreton site:

• Engage and develop interventions to drive targeted improvement
• Ensure that a proactive, cross-functional working relationship is nurtured with the Production teams and with other support functions, e.g. HSSEQ and Supply Chain, to ensure the sharing of best practice
• Deliver training and coaching and expertise in the use of CI, Lean and Operational Excellence tools and techniques
• Provide comprehensive updates for Daily, Weekly and Monthly reviews (plus ad-hoc updates as required)
• Ensure weekly and monthly operational performance is generated and communicated for CI
• Liaise with the Operations team in order to share production improvement opportunities
• Continually assess team and individual performance for input into and delivery of Performance Development Reviews (PDRs)
• Document performance issues and provide constructive feedback to individuals via agreed reporting lines
• Deliver the site strategy as relevant through Continuous Improvement leadership
• Deliver Team Briefs on Continuous Improvement challenges, plans and success stories
• Organise and hold team meetings to discuss issues when necessary and allocate responsibilities and drive / gain ownership
• Identify skills gaps with the team and develop individual training plans with team members
• Implement training plan
• Actively participate in hazard identification and the risk assessment process

Quality Standards

• Support the Manufacturing operation to identify corrective and preventative action improvements
• Demonstrate a Kitchen Mentality within the Continuous Improvement (Workplace Organisation, 5S) to achieve the required standards of GMP, hygiene and housekeeping

Cost deployment & Loss analysis

• Understand analysis of losses (likely to be Pareto) in order to identify top loss and work with the team methodically to address each loss methodically
• Be able to apply TPM tools and techniques in this area
• Work with the Engineering Manager and their team to support the weekly AM sessions and ensure that the team is fully utilised and productive
• Work with the relevant Production Managers to drive CI across Manufacturing

Data reporting

• Prepare and present where necessary data for the weekly and monthly Manufacturing Performance Review as required
• Monitor achievement against production targets and KPIs
• Carry out any reasonable management request

EXPERIENCE /COMPETENCIES

Essential: 

• Lean Sigma Certified Black Belt
• TPM trained or equivalent
• Good judge of character and able to identify and apply individual’s strengths
• Computer literate
• Target focussed
• Strong communication skills
• Understanding of OEE / Efficiency and other KPI targets
• Expert in leading, facilitating and problem-solving to root cause analysis
• Results driven and orientated
• Passionate about success
• Passionate about people development
• Relates well to people at all levels and outside the organisation
• Previous experience in a fast-moving manufacturing environment, preferably food manufacturing
• Ability to motivate, reward and discipline when necessary
• Understanding of PDR system
• Good feedback skills – both positive and negative
• Good people skills and evidence of team-working
• Strong leadership and coaching skills
• All Moreton employees have a responsibility for food safety and quality and that they understand our policies and procedures through ongoing appropriate training and communication
• Compliance to the HACCP Food Safety Plan, Quality Management System and customers’ specifications is monitored and reviewed regularly to identify areas for continuous improvement

Desirable:

• Educated in Engineering / Manufacturing / Business related discipline or equivalent
• Ideally some involvement of working in a unionised environment
• Awareness of food industry practices e.g. ISO 22000, HACCP etc.
• Understanding of and can apply Continuous Improvement tools and techniques from factory floor to boardroom
• Good understanding of supply chain
• Managing Safely
• Level 2 Food Safety certificate