Area Manager

Kinmel | Permanent | Site-based. We are excited to be recruiting for an Area Manager - Production to join our team. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced production leader, perfect for someone passionate about driving performance, developing teams, and delivering safe, high-quality manufacturing operations. You will be responsible for leading a designated production area, ensuring products are manufactured to the agreed standards and production plans, while promoting a safe, efficient, and high-performing environment for colleagues.

About us: INSPIRED Pet Nutrition is an innovative, well-established, and award-winning pet food manufacturer employing over 1,200 colleagues across the UK and Europe. Our family of brands includes Harringtons, Wagg, Barking Heads & Meowing Heads, AATU, Blink, Butcher's, Classic, Pro-Nutrition, and Ultra Premium Direct, along with a number of partner brands that trust us to produce food on their behalf. Our kitchens in Thirsk, Kinmel, and Crick produce a wide range of dry, wet, and baked foods enjoyed by dogs and cats all over the world. Our ambition is simple: to become a global leader in pet nutrition.

Our Purpose: To create happiness. We are on a mission to set a new standard of workplace happiness within the pet nutrition industry—one that looks like no other and feels like no other. Our culture is built on INSPIRED’s unique behaviours and colleague experience, creating an environment that excites, empowers, and puts people and pets at the heart of everything we do.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver area productivity and efficiency targets to produce goods in line with the agreed production plan.
• Continuously monitor raw materials, ingredients, operational processes, and the wider production environment to ensure all activity complies with food safety and manufacturing standards.
• Ensure high standards of product quality, GMP, and compliance across the production area.
• Monitor and review labour deployment to ensure resource availability and alignment with production requirements.
• Own labour planning and support efficient management of labour costs against target.
• Communicate effectively with the operations team, reporting progress against plan and highlighting risks to volumes, quality, or standards in a timely manner.
• Monitor machinery and equipment effectiveness through OEE, ensuring performance consistency and reliability.
• Promote a people-safe culture within the department, complying with procedures, supporting accident investigations, corrective actions, and near-miss reporting.
• Review operational trends and identify opportunities to drive sustainable improvements in quality, performance, waste, downtime, and profit.
• Lead and develop teams to ensure colleagues are clear on objectives and supported to maximise their potential.
• Support performance management and people processes within the area, including disciplinaries and HR processes where required.
• Take ownership for the day-to-day performance of the area and contribute to annual production improvement plans.

About you:

• Experience of managing diverse teams in a complex manufacturing environment.
• Strong leadership capability with experience driving performance, engagement, and development across operational teams.
• Good understanding of production planning, labour deployment, and operational efficiency.
• Experience of working to food safety, GMP, and quality standards within a manufacturing setting.
• Knowledge of OEE, downtime analysis, and continuous improvement principles.
• Confident communicator, able to report clearly on progress, performance, and operational risks.
• Good literacy and numerical skills, with the ability to communicate and report clearly in English.
• Experience using Microsoft Office.
• Advanced Food Hygiene Accreditation, HACCP Level 2, and IOSH Level 2 would be advantageous, although these can be developed in role.

Total Reward Benefits:

• Annual bonus related to personal and company performance.
• Enhanced pension, life assurance, and enhanced maternity, paternity, sick pay, and holiday buy options.
• People and Pets First benefits, including paw-reavement and paw-ternity leave and bring your dog to work.
• Healthcare cashback plan and Hertility at-home fertility testing.
• Heavily discounted pet food and lifestyle benefits (Netflix, Spotify, or breakdown cover).
• Retail and gym discounts, electric car scheme, and free onsite parking and electric car charging.
• Onsite canteen, free hot drinks, and modern facilities.

At INSPIRED, we want to inspire colleagues to join, stay, develop, and achieve, creating an inclusive and sustainable business fit for growth. One of the enablers of achieving this is to offer competitive pay and benefits to all colleagues.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: INSPIRED Pet Nutrition is committed to building an inclusive workplace that reflects the diversity of the colleagues and communities we serve. We believe everyone should feel valued, respected and able to be themselves at work. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. We make hiring decisions based on talent, potential and the experience you bring. We are also committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and in the workplace, ensuring equitable access and opportunity for all. If you need any adjustments or support to take part in our recruitment process, please let us know by emailing recruitment@inspiredpetnutrition.com.