Production Manager in Spalding

Salary: Competitive salary

Benefits: Company share save scheme, Pension up to 8% matched, Life insurance up to 4x salary

Location: Spalding

Ways of Working: Site based

Hours of work: 3's & 2's, 06.00-18.00

Contract Type: Permanent

Why Greencore?

Following the combination with Bakkavor in January 2026, we’re one of the UK’s leading creators of convenience food, driven by a simple purpose: to make everyday taste better. As a vibrant and fast-moving business, we’re proud to employ over 28,000 talented colleagues across 36 manufacturing sites and 21 distribution depots in the UK and the US. Together, we bring delicious food to life. Our products cover every meal occasion from breakfast through to dinner and dessert, with lunch and snacking in between. In FY25, our shared passion helped us achieve combined revenues of approximately £4bn. Our extensive direct to store (DTS) network, with 17 depots across the UK, allows us to deliver fresh and frozen food both our own and from trusted partners to thousands of stores every day, ensuring consumers enjoy the very best, whenever and wherever they shop. Our site in Spalding is a vibrant hub where over 1,470 colleagues bring handcrafted sandwich wraps, salads, dips, soups, sauces, and mayonnaise to life across three manufacturing facilities and a distribution centre.

What you’ll be doing

In this busy and exciting role, you will lead factory shifts or multiple operational areas, stepping in as Deputy Factory Manager when required. You will drive operational performance, ensuring production targets, quality standards, and health & safety requirements are consistently met. You will manage, motivate, and develop your team, fostering a positive and high-performing culture, while identifying opportunities for continuous improvement across the operation. This is a hands-on role where your leadership, organisational skills, and problem-solving ability will make a real impact on both the team and the business.

• Using Continuous Improvement tools and techniques e.g. Performance Improvement Plans, team result plans, value stream mapping, line balancing and problem solving, utilising the Bakkavor Operating System e.g. RedZone to ensure that targets are met and regularly challenged/improved upon.
• To inspire and drive standards of quality, food safety, hygiene and housekeeping within areas/shift, to ensure that both Business and Customer standards are maintained.
• Attend daily factory reviews and coach team members to ensure the quality of the meetings and actions is to the right standard. Accountable for delivering high quality Top Loss/Kaizen activity for shift.
• To pro-actively review and manage the performance of all team members across your shift. Utilise KPI data to benchmark, challenge and drive performance improvement.
• In conjunction with the Learning and Development team, ensure the effective ownership, planning and delivery of training and development activity across your shift.
• In conjunction with the Process Development team, support the co-ordination of NPD activity ensuring teams have the information, resources and time to deliver successful process from product trial to launch.
• Effectively plan, organise and measure labour and material requirements to ensure that both short- and long-term agreed targets are met.
• Agree core manning detail for shift, including skills required and work closely with the central recruitment team ensuring the team recruitment process meets the business needs. Takes accountability for labour turnover performance.
• Develop and maintain an engagement culture where effective two-way communication is welcomed, clear and embraced by all colleagues and encourages the Bakkavor values.

What we’re looking for

• Experience in the food industry, especially chilled food or FMCG is preferable but not essential.
• Proven track record of effective interaction with operational and non-operational stakeholders to deliver manufacturing targets while maintaining SHE and food safety standards.
• To be able to demonstrate strong leadership and communication skills (verbal, written and presentations). And experience of motivating and engaging teams.
• A logical, analytical and clear thinking approach, particularly under pressure.
• Has a rounded and balanced sense of judgement, recognising when to escalate issues to more senior levels of management.
• Must be adaptable and flexible to working hours and areas.
• Intermediate Food Hygiene and IOSHH qualifications are preferable.

What you’ll get in return

• Competitive salary and job-related benefits
• Holidays
• Pension up to 8% matched
• Life insurance up to 4x salary
• Company share save scheme
• Greencore Qualifications
• Exclusive Greencore employee discount platform
• Access to a full Wellbeing Centre platform
• Enhanced parental leave and menopause policies

Throughout your time at Greencore, you will be supported with on-the-job training and development opportunities to further your career.