General Manager – Heywood

Lineage is the world’s largest provider of temperature‑controlled logistics. With over 25,000 colleagues globally, we have significant capabilities across the UK with a network of cold stores and an integrated transport network. We are recruiting a General Manager to lead our Heywood facility – the largest and most operationally significant cold storage site in the UK with over 75,000 pallet spaces across 7 buildings and circa 200 employees. Heywood is a high‑volume and fast‑paced operation combining large‑scale cold storage, automation, warehousing and distribution activity supporting some of the UK’s best‑known food brands. The site plays a critical role within the wider Lineage network.

This is a senior operational leadership role for someone who enjoys being close to the operation, leading experienced teams, and building a strong, stable culture over the long term.

Role

As General Manager, you will have full responsibility for site performance, operational standards, customer delivery, safety, engagement and financial performance. You will lead through visibility, consistency, and operational credibility by creating an environment where teams feel supported, standards are clear and people are accountable for delivering excellent service safely and efficiently. You will work closely with operational leaders and central functions to ensure the site continues to perform reliably in a demanding 24/7 environment, while helping simplify processes and strengthen ways of working across the operation.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop operational leaders and site teams within a large multi‑shift environment.
• Create a strong operational culture focused on safety, accountability, teamwork, and consistency.
• Ensure reliable customer delivery across warehousing and logistics operations.
• Own site P&L performance, balancing operational excellence with commercial awareness.
• Drive performance through clear operational routines, KPIs, and continuous improvement.
• Build strong working relationships across operations, engineering, HR, transport, and central support functions.
• Maintain high standards across safety, compliance, quality, and colleague engagement.
• Support the long‑term stability and development of one of the UK network’s key operational sites.

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for an experienced operational leader who is at their best running complex, people‑intensive operations. You are likely to have built your career leading large operational teams within logistics, supply chain, manufacturing, distribution or industrial environments. You understand how to balance pace with pragmatism, standards with relationships, and accountability with empathy.

• Significant experience leading large 24/7 operational warehousing sites.
• Strong operational and people leadership capability.
• Experience managing comparable blue‑collar workforces through layered leadership teams.
• Confidence operating within demanding customer‑driven environments.
• A calm, credible, hands‑on leadership style.
• Strong communication and relationship‑building skills across all levels of the business.
• Commercial awareness and experience owning operational budgets and KPIs.
• The resilience and judgement needed to lead a complex operational site over the long term.

Benefits

As a Lineage team member, we aim to provide everything you and your family need to thrive. That’s why we offer competitive rates of pay, paid time off, skills training, and development opportunities to grow a long and fulfilling career with us. This is enhanced by recognition schemes (so that your hard work won’t go unnoticed), plus the chance to make your salary go even further with our cycle‑to‑work scheme and preferential rates for loans and savings courtesy of a leading credit union. Your everyday wellbeing is also important to us, so we will provide you with all the protective equipment you need to be safe and comfortable at work, and you will have access to a free 24/7 employee assistance phone line, which offers confidential counselling and advice. With all of this offered against the backdrop of a fun and social environment in which you will be supported by a team who enjoy helping each other in achieving their goals, we are confident you will excel with us.

Lineage is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all colleagues. We are an equal opportunities employer and positively encourage applications from persons regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status or pregnancy and maternity. At Lineage we also recognise that Ex‑Military, veterans and military families have great experience with transferable skills and core values that can add significant value to our organisation.