Operational Excellence in Harrogate

Taylors of Harrogate is seeking an Operational Excellence (IWS) Manager to lead the deployment, governance, and long‑term embedding of the Integrated Work System (IWS) across Taylors Operations. This role partners closely with the Operations Leadership Team, acting as an advisor and coach. The successful candidate will ensure IWS is embedded into the Taylors Operations Operating Model—driving sustainable performance improvement, developing leadership capability, and aligning operational execution with business strategy.

This is a full-time role working 37.5 hours per week primarily Monday to Friday with flexibility to cover all of our shift patterns including lates, nights and weekends to support our operations. While we support flexible working, regular on-site collaboration is essential, so this position is not suitable for fully remote applicants.

• Lead and coach the Pillar Leads in effective Pillar ownership and IWS maturity.
• Own the implementation and governance of all IWS Pillars, ensuring disciplined execution and delivery against milestones.
• Drive PDCA at Taylors Operations level, aligning leadership routines and priorities to the IWS roadmap.
• Implement and assure the IWS qualification framework for all Pillar Leads.
• Oversee Step‑Up Cards, self‑assessments, and external assessments.
• Develop and maintain site‑level OGSMs aligned to business strategy and SDDS.
• Define and govern the IWS training and capability‑building plan.
• Maintain IWS performance scorecards and track progress against phase milestones and KPIs.
• Provide targeted coaching to Pillar Owners and senior operational leaders.
• Lead senior‑level loss analysis tours, reinforcing standards, behaviours, and engagement.
• Champion a strong culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.
• Own the site IWS Implementation Plan and lead the business through the relevant IWS phase journey.

• Experience in food manufacturing, FMCG, or complex production environments.
• Strong working knowledge of IWS, Lean, or Lean Six Sigma systems.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders through coaching and data‑driven insight.
• Experience with cost management, capital processes, and quality management systems.
• Experience in leading a transformational Opex program.
• Strong analytical and structured problem‑solving capability.
• Proficient user of Microsoft 365.

As a minimum, all our employees receive free meals, drinks and snacks while at work, a discretionary quarterly profit-share bonus, holiday allowance with the option to buy and (in some cases) sell additional days, company-wide employee discounts, access to our health cash plan, wellbeing support, company funded counselling, and enrolment in the company pension. We also offer a range of development opportunities no matter your role and ambitions. We encourage everyone to explore what makes them the best version of themselves, and we do this through external training programmes, apprenticeships and internal 1:1 coaching schemes.

We are Bettys & Taylors Group. Our family business is home to three iconic Yorkshire brands – Yorkshire Tea, Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. Together we share a passion for quality, service and doing things properly. We are driven by our purpose and our values, and we believe our people are what set us apart. We welcome applications from all cultures, backgrounds, and experiences and we are committed to offering an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive.

To apply for this role you will be required to submit a CV and cover letter. There will be a two-stage recruitment process for this role, we plan that the first stage will take place week commencing 9th March 2026 and second stage is likely to take place week commencing 23rd or 30th March. This will be confirmed to you post-first stage interview. The closing date for this vacancy is 6th March 2026. To ensure we find the right candidate, we reserve the right to close this advert early if we receive a high volume of applications. Don't miss your chance—apply today.