Process & Production Manager

Volklec is scaling fast and we need a hands-on operational leader who can run a production line and lead the people who make it work. This role blends technical depth with frontline leadership: you’ll set the standard for operational excellence while coaching, guiding, and influencing the teams at UKBIC who deliver our output every day. You will be the person who takes complex transferred processes and turns them into safe, repeatable, high-performance operations. If you thrive on clarity, pace, people leadership, and solving real engineering problems in a live environment, this role is for you. This is not a desk job. You will be on the factory floor, leading by example, driving production performance, building capability in the team around you, and shaping the culture that powers the UK’s next battery manufacturing capability.

What You’ll Own

• Transfer Tech into Production: Translate manufacturing knowledge from our Chinese partners into UKBIC-ready standards and SOPs. Own the Process Library: capture and codify complex know-how into reliable instructions. Ensure no nuance is lost between international partners and UK operations. Act as the senior Volklec presence on the shop floor at UKBIC. Coach operators and technicians to work to Volklec standards and expectations. Build a high-performance culture rooted in safety, discipline, and continuous improvement. Influence teams you do not directly manage, setting direction through clarity and credibility. Find ways of working with both Volklec and UKBIC Teams that develop a mutual performance culture. Own daily production outcomes: yield, throughput, scrap, uptime, safety. Lead in-the-moment decision-making to keep the line running safely and efficiently. Run troubleshooting with both technical competence and people leadership. Embed Lean/Six Sigma thinking to stabilise and scale operations. Implement preventative and predictive maintenance routines to reduce downtime. Lead shop-floor issue resolution during trials and ramp-up. Drive ongoing optimisation as processes move from pilot to stable production. Work closely with our Advanced Engineering and Planning Manager to remove technical and operational barriers.
• Strategic Procurement (Power Cell Phase): Lead RFI/RFQ for equipment suppliers for Power Cell manufacturing. Assess suppliers on capability, delivery pace, and alignment with Volklec’s standards. Own cost and budget alignment for this phase of industrialisation.

What You Need to Bring

• Technical: 7+ years in high-volume manufacturing (5+ with a Master’s); Battery manufacturing is ideal. However, maybe you come from a sector with similar processes e.g. food & drink, metal coatings, pharmaceutical, etc which would provide a good foundation to learn from. Strong understanding of Li-ion processes preferred, not essential. Proven NPI experience (pilot → production) including design for manufacturability (DFM). Vendor selection, procurement and cost analysis experience. Hands-on knowledge of MES, SPC, FAT/SAT, and Six Sigma tools. PLC/automation familiarity is an advantage.
• Leadership: Clear, credible frontline leadership: people trust you because you show up on the floor. Ability to motivate, coach, and build capability in technical teams. Skilled at influencing partner-facility teams (UKBIC) without direct line authority. Able to maintain morale and focus during difficult production runs.
• Safety: Strong grounding in HSE for high-volume or safety-critical production. Comfortable enforcing standards and expectations with both internal and partner teams.

Mindset: We hire people who think clearly, build foundations others can scale, and get things done. We are builders and manufacturers at heart. We value time on the factory floor, a passion for engineering, and the discipline to deliver both continuous improvement and step-change advances in performance. You’ve got real intellectual horsepower. You can break down messy problems, spot what actually matters, and explain your thinking without hiding behind jargon. You don’t need perfect information to move forward, and you’re comfortable making decisions and owning them. You’re sleeves-rolled-up by instinct. If something’s broken, unclear, or slowing things down, you step in, fix it, and see it through to the end. You care about outcomes, not optics, and you’re willing to do the unglamorous work when it counts. You’re a battery, not a drainer. People leave conversations with you clearer and more energised than when they arrived. You’re engaged, curious, and direct — not performative or political. You’re honest about failure. You can talk openly about when things went wrong, what it cost, and what you changed as a result. No spin. No hero narratives. You work well with others, even when it’s uncomfortable. You handle disagreement without drama, communicate clearly, and take responsibility — for your work and, if you lead, for the people you develop. If you like thinking hard, getting stuck in, and being accountable for real results, you’ll fit right in.

Technical Edge through Diversity: We don’t do 'culture fit'; we do 'culture add.' Solving global energy challenges requires a diversity of thought to avoid blind spots. We hire for expertise and objective results, specifically seeking leaders from underrepresented backgrounds to sharpen our technical edge.

Why This Role Matters: You’ll be responsible for turning our battery technology into a working production reality. If you want to build something real, lead people, operate at pace, and help shape the UK’s independent battery manufacturing capability, this is your opportunity!

How to Apply: Please answer the questions in the link. Please attach your CV. Please attach a cover letter telling us why you are a good fit for this role.

DC Pension Scheme (Employer contribution of 5%) Life Assurance (4 x base salary) Access to subsidised private medical insurance (after probationary period)