Assembly Manager

Location: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

The role:

We are seeking an experienced Assembly Manager to lead and develop manufacturing operations within our Assembly function. This is a high-impact leadership role focused on driving performance, continuous improvement and a strong safety-first culture, while delivering production growth and operational excellence.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead, motivate and manage a multi-shift assembly team (circa 110 employees) to deliver operational targets and KPIs
• Set strategic direction for the Assembly function, ensuring alignment with wider business goals
• Drive a culture of safety, continuous improvement and employee engagement
• Monitor and improve productivity, efficiency, quality and on-time delivery performance
• Identify and implement lean manufacturing and process improvement initiatives
• Oversee capacity planning, capability development and production flow optimisation
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Engineering, Planning, Maintenance, HR and senior leadership
• Manage departmental budgets, investment planning and resource allocation
• Champion best practice in workshop standards (5S, TPM, visual management, etc.)
• Lead performance management, succession planning and team development initiatives

Your experience:

• Proven experience in a leadership role within manufacturing, production or assembly environments
• Strong track record of delivering continuous improvement and lean manufacturing initiatives
• Experience in managing complex production operations and driving business performance
• Demonstrated ability to lead change and deliver operational transformation
• Commercial awareness with experience aligning operational output to business goals
• Ideally, experience managing engineering or production functions within a similar environment

Your skills:

• Strong leadership and people management skills with the ability to engage at all levels
• Results-driven with a focus on performance, quality and continuous improvement
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to influence, coach and develop high-performing teams
• Hands-on, proactive approach with strong problem-solving capability
• Collaborative mindset with a passion for driving operational excellence

Benefits:

You will receive a competitive salary (and a discretionary bonus), flexible working and excellent benefits including 27 days holiday allowance (before bank holidays), 3 days’ paid volunteering leave, comprehensive private healthcare, enhanced pension plan, life assurance, optional participation in a Share Ownership Plan, free onsite parking, flexible benefits, and access to a personal discounts’ portal.

We also offer a range of additional support and benefits through our Everyone is Included Group Inclusion Plan.

We are passionate about creating inclusive and equitable working cultures where everyone can be themselves and achieve their full potential. For us, that means supportive teams and strong relationships where everyone’s contribution is valued - across social and cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, genders, gender identities, abilities, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and everything else that makes us human and unique.

We want everyone to be able to make their difference here, so we will always consider requests for flexible working.

We know that everyone needs some extra help from time to time too, so we have introduced a range of additional benefits through our Group Inclusion Commitments. These include gender-neutral parental leave, 15 days of extra paid caregiver leave, paid time off and support for anyone experiencing pregnancy loss or domestic abuse, menopause-friendly workplace principles and more.

We are also a Disability Confident Committed Employer. If you would like to apply using this scheme, please select this option in our application form or notify our recruitment partners.