At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the production line, ensuring top-quality chocolate is made efficiently.
- Company: Join a passionate team reinventing chocolate at a leading company.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, discounts, and enhanced family leave.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with opportunities for continuous improvement and career growth.
- Why this job: Be part of a mission to make people and nature happy through chocolate.
- Qualifications: Experience in machine operation and strong leadership skills required.
The predicted salary is between 33423 - 33423 £ per year.
Location: Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire (Factory ‘Hadley Park')
Shift Pattern: Monday to Friday on a weekly rotating shift of 6am‑2pm and 2pm‑10pm (37.5 hours per week).
Salary: £33,423.00 per annum.
Benefits:
- Competitive salary
- Enhanced maternity/paternity leave
- Company pension contributions
- 50% discount on all products
- 70% discount for you and your guests at Rabot Estate hideaway on Saint Lucia
Job Introduction: As we continue our mission to make people and nature happy through reinventing chocolate, we’re looking for a Senior Machine Operative to join our Velvetiser Team on a permanent basis. Our Senior Machine Operatives are vital in ensuring compliance with the Production Plan in supporting delivery of our world‑class chocolate on time and in full across our customer network.
You will support in leading an effective team, taking ownership for the production line and change overs, driving the team in completion of required plan whilst taking into consideration cost, quality and efficiency.
What you’ll be doing…
Proactive:- Setting up machinery, including but not limited to changing over parts on the lines. You will work with chocolate tempering machine, mixer, depositing system, multi‑headed weighers, sachet packing machines, etc.
- Working collaboratively with other departments to ensure that all required items are available and ready to support the smooth efficient running of the lines, i.e., machinery/ingredients/packaging.
- Communicating any shortages and discrepancies to your line manager on time to support plan completion.
- Ensuring that plan delivered on time and to costed expectation or better with targeted quality loss of less than 1% and delivering ‘Right First‑Time’ products.
- Owning the start‑up of the production lines, ensuring that the correct staffing is in place to hit required targets in place on the production lines.
- Leading the team to successfully complete plan to required specifications, owning the clean down of the line between products and line start‑up inspections to ensure that the line is free from any cross‑contamination of the last run. Owning the sign‑off and completing the paperwork checks.
- Continuously driving a culture of asset specific standards and settings across all shifts.
- Ensure 100% compliance with product specification.
- Conducting GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) compliance in your work area.
- Ensure compliance with all Health and Safety systems and to be always responsible for your own Health and Safety and the Health and Safety of others around you.
- Food safety standard compliance and hygiene, and PPE policies adhered to.
- Production is right first time to set specifications and requirements of our customers.
- Ensure all Piranha requests are submitted to engineering for downtimes.
- Running the day‑to‑day management of the line.
- Ensuring that the team are adhering to set requirements for product and personal behaviour.
- Reporting breakdowns in a timely manner, making the right decision.
- Ensuring team training is up to date.
- Training and mentoring new starters within the business on your asset / process.
- Leading the team in all continuous improvement activities required on the line per product group.
- Being an ambassador of driving the culture of pride for the produce by setting and demanding high standards.
- Be able to talk an external auditor through your process / procedure around utilising your asset.
- Proactive care and targeted hygiene work with the Hygiene team to ensure work area and asset stays in the best standard.
- Identify opportunities, plan how process can be improved.
- PMR activity o Yield / Material Variance / Packaging Waste / Inventory waste / Line Efficiency etc.
- Working project to show savings from improvements on the line / process.
- Demonstration of tools used for improvement.
- Involvement in 5S and other Kaizen instruments developed for site.
- Be able to challenge constructively and to be able to receive feedback openly.
- Have a collaborative working approach.
Who you are…
- Knowledge of KPIs.
- Strong verbal and written English to clearly discuss performance of your asset / process.
- Knowledge of Continuous Improvement skills, with the ability to deploy critical thinking.
- HACCP trained.
Senior Machine Operative (Velvetiser) employer: Hotel Chocolat
Join our vibrant team at Hadley Park in Huntingdon, where we are dedicated to reinventing chocolate while fostering a supportive and collaborative work environment. As a Senior Machine Operative, you will benefit from a competitive salary, generous discounts on our products, and opportunities for personal growth through training and continuous improvement initiatives. Our commitment to employee well-being is reflected in our enhanced maternity/paternity leave and company pension contributions, making us an excellent employer for those seeking meaningful and rewarding careers.
