OPERATIONS MANAGER

Crediton Dairy is one of the UK’s leading dairy drinks businesses producing an extensive range of branded and own label fresh flavoured and functional chilled milk drinks, iced coffee and long life milks and creams. We supply nearly all of the UK’s major supermarkets as well as leading foodservice, convenience and wholesale businesses. In the UK around a quarter of all the supermarkets in Britain sell Crediton Dairy products.

The operational requirements for the business have significantly increased over the last 3 years and we expect further growth in the future. Seven-day working ensures that customer service level demands are met and now the appropriate business leadership is required to ensure the appropriate level of support is on site within Production, Logistics, Engineering and Technical.

Two Operations Managers will work on a ‘4 on 4 off’ basis on days and will be responsible for leading and driving performance within the site manufacturing teams.

The Operations Manager role will have responsibility for over 120 colleagues across all functions and will work collaboratively with NPD, Technical and Commercial colleagues to ensure our expectations are achieved.  We are currently investing over £5m in upgrading the site, both in process capability and more environmentally friendly energy provisions, with further investment planned over the next 3 years. This is therefore a very exciting time to be leading this function within the business.

The Role:

• As part of the Operations senior management team, ensure a safety first culture and be responsible for a ensuring that capacity is efficiently managed, and the necessary resources are available to achieve the production plan whilst adhering to stringent quality standards and budget targets
• Lead, coach, manage and develop the site teams and progress talent.
• Ensure the site staff are suitably trained with the right skills and capabilities to meet the growing business needs.
• Instigate and develop a Continuous Improvement culture through Lean Tools and Behaviours and drive process improvement actions and results
• Deliver and manage the manufacturing budgeted targets and KPI’s that have been set.
• Communicate and deliver business objectives through the site teams, prioritising activities as necessary to ensure total involvement and achievement.
• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders within NPD Technical, Procurement and Commercial.
• Promote and engage with the site Environmental and Health & Safety Culture.

The Person:

• Ideally degree qualified with proven experience gained as a senior Operations Leader who has headed up day to day production and controlled the efficient flow of materials
• Extensive experience in managing people and change within an FMCG environment. An effective ambassador, leading by example to deliver a lean / continuous improvement manufacturing culture
• The ability to get the best out of people by communicating, engaging and inspiring at all levels in order to ensure the business vision is realised. Highly collaborative and able to work across all levels and functions within the business
• The ability to implement process manufacturing excellence to achieve operational improvements across all KPI’s
• Self-motivated with drive and enthusiasm to overcome challenges and ensure goals are met and exceeded
• Experienced with HR matters concerning people development/coaching, absence and discipline management
• A background in Dairy or fast paced Food manufacturing is essential.

At Crediton Dairy we believe that the strength of our business lies in the strength of our people. We respect the knowledge and capabilities that each employee offers and by focussing on challenging, empowering and supporting our people, we believe that we build rewarding careers.