Shift Manager in Ashford

Reporting to the Production Manager, you will take ownership of production on your shift, ensuring all Key Performance Indicators are consistently met. You will lead and develop your team while using your focus on improvement to drive cost savings and foster a culture of continuous improvement across the department.

Key tasks

• Continuously by example to ensure safe, efficient, and compliant work practices across the production environment, maintaining adherence to GMP, Health & Safety, customer specifications, and company policies. You will manage shift planning and handovers, ensuring adequate staffing levels, coordinating with recruitment, and monitoring attendance and payroll records to support the daily production plan.
• Motivate and coach production staff to achieve consistent performance, multi-skilling, and adaptability during breakdowns, downtime, or shortages, while conducting daily briefings, performance management, and return-to-work or accident follow-ups as required.
• Oversee production performance against plan, manage variances, and coordinate with engineering and planning teams to address maintenance, raw material shortages, or other disruptions, ensuring corrective actions and continuous improvement are implemented.
• Ensure all production processes and checks—from start-up inspections, cleaning, and quality audits to stock, label, and date coding—are completed accurately and documented, maintaining compliance with hygiene, audit, and operational standards.
• Drive continuous improvement and lean manufacturing initiatives, encouraging staff engagement, challenging non-conformance, enhancing productivity, and improving working procedures to deliver quality, cost efficiency, and production targets.

About You

• The successful candidate shall have relevant food manufacturing qualifications, including food hygiene as well as Health & Safety training and good knowledge of food/drinks manufacturing processes.
• Experience with HACCP, allergens, food processing systems and lean manufacturing techniques is required.
• Working knowledge of SAGE software, and an understanding of supply chain principles and practice is preferable.

The Shift Manager job (ref:8986) is paying £40,341 raising to £44,375 according to your experience.

The hours are on a weekly rotating shift pattern of 7:00am to 3:00pm and 3:00pm to 11:00pm, Monday to Friday.

The site is based in Kent and is commutable from Ashford, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Canterbury and surrounding areas.

Alternate job titles

Food Production Manager | Production Team Manager | Head of Production | Manufacturing Manager | Production Supervisor | Production Team Leader | Production Coordinator | Food Industry Production Jobs

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