Head of Manufacturing I Food Manufacturing in Newport

Head of Manufacturing

Location: Newport, South Wales

Salary: £80,000 - £100,000 + Bonus + Excellent Benefits + SLT

Lead One of the UK's Largest Food Manufacturing Operations

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Head of Manufacturing to join a large-scale, market-leading food manufacturing business operating one of the UK's most significant prepared food production facilities.

This is a senior leadership role with full accountability for manufacturing performance across a large operational area, offering the opportunity to influence site strategy, develop high-performing teams and drive measurable business improvement.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Site Director, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across manufacturing, ensuring the delivery of exceptional standards in safety, quality, cost, people and customer service.

Leading a significant operational team through Manufacturing Managers, Shift Managers and functional leaders, you will play a key role in shaping culture, driving performance and supporting future growth across the site.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a large, multi-layered manufacturing organisation.
• Drive world-class performance across Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and People metrics.
• Create a high-performance culture built on accountability, engagement and continuous improvement.
• Deliver productivity, efficiency and waste reduction initiatives.
• Own labour planning, resource optimisation and manufacturing cost performance.
• Support major capital investment, automation and operational excellence programmes.
• Partner with Technical, Engineering, Supply Chain, HR and Commercial functions to achieve business objectives.
• Champion food safety, compliance and customer standards throughout the operation.
• Develop succession plans and build future leadership capability across manufacturing teams.

About You

We're looking for a proven manufacturing leader with extensive experience operating within large-scale food manufacturing environments .

You'll bring:

• Significant senior leadership experience within food manufacturing.
• A proven track record of leading large, complex food production operations.
• Experience managing sizeable operational teams through multiple layers of management.
• Strong commercial and financial awareness, including labour planning, budget management and cost control.
• Demonstrable success in improving operational performance, productivity, yield and efficiency.
• Experience driving cultural change and developing high-performing teams.
• A thorough understanding of food safety, quality standards, customer requirements and regulatory compliance within a food manufacturing environment.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and collaborate at all levels.
• Experience leading continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives within food production.
• A visible, hands-on leadership style with a passion for developing people and building capability.

Why Apply?

This is a rare opportunity to join a business operating at exceptional scale and complexity, where you'll have genuine influence over site performance, culture and future growth.

You'll be part of a senior leadership team committed to driving operational excellence while creating an environment where people can develop, succeed and build long-term careers. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in shaping the future performance of a site that delivers millions of products to customers every week.

If you're an ambitious food manufacturing leader looking for an opportunity to make a significant impact within a large-scale operation, we'd love to hear from you.