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- Tasks: Lead and optimise food service sites, ensuring top performance and customer satisfaction.
- Company: Join Pilgrims Europe, a leader in the food service industry.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, career growth, and a dynamic work environment.
- Other info: Opportunity to drive operational excellence and develop a high-performance culture.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in food manufacturing while leading innovative teams.
- Qualifications: Senior management experience in manufacturing and strong leadership skills.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Pilgrims Europe is seeking an experienced and commercially astute Site Director to lead our Huntington and Peterborough Food Service sites. This is a critical senior leadership role with full accountability for site performance, including quality, health & safety, efficiency, cost control, and competitive advantage.
The successful candidate will have full P&L responsibility, lead and develop the senior management teams across both sites, and be accountable for all employees on site. You will play a pivotal role in driving operational excellence, delivering outstanding customer service, and supporting new product introductions on time and to specification.
Key Responsibilities- Overall leadership and optimisation of site performance across Huntington and Peterborough
- Full accountability for financial performance, including profit, turnover, margin, cash flow, yield optimisation, working capital and cost control
- Development and delivery of site strategy, budgets, business plans, forecasts and performance targets, aligned to overall business strategy
- Ensuring robust production and material planning to meet customer demand and operational efficiency
- Leading, developing and coaching the site senior management teams and wider workforce, addressing underperformance through training and corrective action where required
- Driving Operational Excellence and labour optimisation, embedding a high-performance culture with strong ownership for continuous improvement and innovation
- Benchmarking against best-in-class operations, introducing new methods and technologies, and proactively driving improvement initiatives
- Ensuring all plant and equipment are correctly operated, cleaned and maintained, and developing a rolling capital investment plan in conjunction with the Group Technical team
- Delivering best-in-class standards in product quality, customer service and operational performance
- Ensuring full compliance with all statutory, regulatory and customer requirements, including food safety, health & safety, environment, employment law and trading standards
- Developing and maintaining systems, procedures and working practices that meet group policies, accreditation standards and customer requirements
- Senior management experience within manufacturing, with a minimum of 5 years at a senior leadership level
- Proven track record of leading a key function or site within manufacturing or food production
- Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and up-to-date knowledge of processing equipment
- Relevant qualifications in food, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain management, economics, or similar
- Demonstrable change management experience
- Customer-facing experience, including managing and developing key customer relationships
- Experience managing large, multi-disciplinary workforces
- Proven capability in developing, motivating and coaching teams
- Strong negotiation experience (internal and external), including pay negotiations
- Experience communicating effectively at all levels and across all functions
- Successful involvement in capital project implementation
- High level of IT literacy
- Strong people leadership and delegation skills
- Performance management expertise, including KPI development and delivery
- Sound understanding of management accounting, budgeting and financial controls
- Strong commercial acumen with experience of P&L, balance sheets, ROC, financial planning and EBITDA
- Understanding of engineering processes and standards
- Knowledge of procedural agreements and union relationships
- Strong understanding of supply chain processes
- In-depth knowledge of GMP, Health & Safety and Environmental standards
- Excellent presentation and report-writing skills
- Ability to drive optimum performance across all functions
- Results-driven with a strong commitment to success
- Able to engage, influence and communicate with a diverse workforce
- Demonstrable team builder and collaborative leader
- Confident to challenge constructively and make balanced decisions
- Flexible, logical and pragmatic in approach
- High levels of integrity; fair, honest and objective
- Passionate about food manufacturing
- Strong analytical capability with sustained drive and enthusiasm
- Self-motivated, organised and resilient
- Creative and imaginative thinker, able to think outside the box
Site Director in Huntingdon employer: Pilgrims Europe
Contact Detail:
Pilgrims Europe Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Site Director in Huntingdon
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the food service industry, especially those who might know someone at Pilgrims Europe. A friendly chat can sometimes lead to opportunities that aren’t even advertised.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching the company inside out. Understand their values, recent news, and challenges they face in the food service sector. This will help you tailor your answers and show them you’re genuinely interested.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your leadership stories! Think of specific examples where you’ve driven operational excellence or led a team through change. Being able to share these experiences confidently can really set you apart during interviews.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, we love seeing candidates who are proactive about their job search!
We think you need these skills to ace Site Director in Huntingdon
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV is tailored to the Site Director role. Highlight your senior management experience and any relevant achievements in food production or manufacturing. We want to see how your skills align with our needs!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're the perfect fit for the role. Share specific examples of how you've driven operational excellence and led teams in the past. We love a good story!
Showcase Your Financial Acumen: Since this role involves full P&L responsibility, make sure to highlight your financial management skills. Talk about your experience with budgeting, forecasting, and cost control. We need someone who can keep our sites profitable!
Apply Through Our Website: Don't forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it’s super easy – just follow the prompts and submit your documents!
How to prepare for a job interview at Pilgrims Europe
✨Know Your Numbers
As a Site Director, you'll be responsible for P&L and financial performance. Brush up on your financial metrics and be ready to discuss how you've managed budgets, optimised costs, and driven profitability in previous roles. This shows you understand the commercial side of the business.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
Prepare examples that highlight your leadership experience, especially in managing large teams. Think about times when you’ve developed talent or turned around underperforming teams. Be ready to discuss your approach to coaching and motivating staff, as this is crucial for the role.
✨Demonstrate Operational Excellence
Familiarise yourself with best practices in food manufacturing and operational efficiency. Be prepared to share specific initiatives you've implemented that led to improvements in quality, safety, or productivity. This will show your commitment to driving excellence across the sites.
✨Engage with Customer Focus
Since customer service is key, think of examples where you've successfully managed customer relationships or improved service delivery. Highlight your ability to align site operations with customer needs, which is essential for maintaining competitive advantage.