Assistant Production Manager in Cookstown

Dale Farm Cooperative is a UK dairy farmer co‑operative owned by over 1200 dairy farmers who supply us with fresh milk. Dale Farm has operations throughout the UK and Ireland producing and distributing a wide range of dairy products which it sells across the UK and Ireland as well as exporting to over 45 countries worldwide.

Our culture is based on setting best in class standards, working towards and delivering on committed objectives, striving for constant improvement and involving everyone in the company. We strive to develop our people and harness everyone's contribution to deliver a winning team. The company is an Equal Opportunities employer and is committed to a safe, inclusive and relationship-based workspace. In return, we offer a high degree of responsibility, plenty of challenge, good opportunities for learning and personal development and rewarding benefit packages, all within a fast-moving and results-oriented environment.

As an Assistant Production Manager, you will report directly to the Production Manager and play a key role delivering operational excellence. Your role will require you to support the day-to-day operational management. You will support the Production Manager in the continued development of a team of operators, operational accountability for the plant performance, supporting audits and key projects. In addition, you will role model a culture of compliance in quality, regulatory compliance, H&S and environmental standards. By working closely with our Production management team, you will learn and understand the production process delivering a world-class performance. This role will blend hands-on leadership learning with cross-functional collaboration to deliver operation excellence, right first time.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist the Production Manager with the daily production activities of the plant to ensure optimum operational performance.
• Take ownership of compliance and health & safety regulations, ensuring consistent adherence to standards and playing a key role in driving and sustaining a robust site safety culture.
• Take responsibility for product quality and adherence to GMP through management of the production team and process to deliver agreed product specifications as defined in quality standards and policies.
• Take accountability for people management within your team, supporting the Production Manager to develop and empower operatives to take full ownership of their roles, proactively managing and addressing performance and attendance issues, and ensuring clear, consistent, and effective communication across the team.
• Assist the Production Manager in ensuring that site policies and procedures are documented, trained to Shift Managers, Team Leaders and Operatives and that SOPs are consistently followed.
• Prepare regular production status updates and reports on a daily, weekly basis for the Production Manager and General Manager highlighting key performance metrics, identify performance gaps, trends, potential challenges and improvements.
• Develop strong working relations with all internal departments including production, engineering, and quality.
• As part of a wider team engage with and facilitate the delivery of site and Capital Projects that have an impact on Production.
• Support the use of lean manufacturing techniques with particular emphasis on lean tools such as Problem-Solving, Root Cause Analysis and Standard Work for the investigation and identification of preventative and corrective action.

About the Person

• Third Level Qualification, preferably in Applied Science/Chemical Engineering or Food Technology discipline.
• Minimum 2 years’ recent relevant experience in a management/supervisory role within a manufacturing or production environment.
• Proficient in MS Office applications.
• Excellent problem solving and organisational skills with a hands-on approach.
• Ability to work in an environment with competing priorities and manage multiple tasks effectively in accordance with production and delivery targets.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to effectively communicate to a range of internal and external stakeholders, and to coordinate between different departments and senior management.
• Strong leadership qualities and the motivation to inspire all the team.
• Minimum of 2 years’ recent relevant experience in Cheese/Whey processing.
• Experience in lean manufacturing or process improvement techniques.
• Level 3 Food Hygiene.
• Level 2 HACCAP.

Learn more about the company and to apply online at dalefarm.co.uk/careers. Completed application forms must be received online before 5:00pm on Tuesday 7th July 2026. Only applications from EU Nationals or those with a valid permit to work in the UK will be accepted.