Senior Operations Manager

Senior Operations Manager

North West

c. £90,000 + Car Allowance + Bonus

Job Reference: GG/1859

Overview

Your opportunity join a multi-billion pound food business and play a key role in transforming one of their new facilities.

As Senior Operations Manager, you will take the lead in creating a culture of excellence across the site.

The Candidate

The successful Senior Operations Manager will:

• Define and drive the long-term direction for site operations.
• Embed a culture of innovation and process improvement to continuously raise operational standards.
• Take full ownership of site performance metrics, setting ambitious goals and ensuring consistent delivery.
• Build a strong leadership pipeline by nurturing talent, promoting from within, and embedding robust succession plans.
• Structure the team for success, ensuring everyone understands their role in achieving strategic objectives.
• Plan and secure the people and resources required to meet performance expectations and future growth.
• Lead quality enhancement initiatives, ensuring high standards are met and continuously improved.
• Implement and maintain systems and practices that safeguard compliance with Health, Safety, and Environmental standards, while driving ongoing improvement.
• Oversee daily production performance, ensuring delivery against plan and smooth execution of operational projects.
• Champion the effective rollout of corporate policies and operational standards across all areas.
• Control operational spending and identify cost-saving opportunities to maintain competitiveness.
• Partner with the Technical Manager to ensure customer expectations and compliance requirements are fully met.
• Support the annual budgeting process by aligning site needs with corporate financial planning.
• Develop and execute strategic cost-efficiency plans, including managing capital projects and supporting major investment initiatives.

The Candidate

The successful Senior Operations Manager will:

• Have background in fast-paced, high-output manufacturing.
• Be a quick thinker who thrives under pressure and works autonomously.
• Have practical experience with Lean, TPM, or similar improvement tools.
• Demonstrate strong team leadership with a focus on people development.
• Be confident managing budgets and delivering projects.
• Familiar with BRC and major retailer standards.
• Be aware of how quality issues impact production and reputation.
• Be a clear communicator who builds strong team connections.
• Be energetic, driven, and genuinely passionate about improvement.

Next Steps

To apply for this Senior Operations Manager opportunity, click apply or contact Gilbert Gregory on 07463222578 or gilbert.gregory@gregory-walker.co.uk quoting reference GG/1859.

About Your Recruitment Agency

Gregory Walker is a specialist food and drink manufacturing recruitment agency. We are on a mission to provide the most efficient, transparent and enjoyable recruitment service in the industry.

Here is our most recent candidate recommendation: “Gregory Walker got in touch about a role on a Thursday and within 6 days everything was sorted, and I’d accepted the role. Easy to work with and great communication which is everything!”