Job Description:

Are you a commercially astute operations leader who can bring structure, accountability and operational excellence to a fast-paced, multi-site environment?

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Operations Director to play a pivotal role in strengthening operational performance, governance and cost control across a complex business. This is a senior leadership position for someone who thrives on improving how a business operates, bringing teams together and ensuring the infrastructure, services and support functions are aligned to deliver outstanding results.

Working closely with the Production Operations Director and wider leadership team, the successful candidate will take ownership of the operational framework that underpins production success, driving consistency, efficiency and continuous improvement across Projects, Packaging, Engineering, Facilities, services and contracts.

The Opportunity

This is a role for a hands-on, highly organised leader who can turn business priorities into clear plans, measurable actions and tangible improvements. With responsibility for operational governance, budget control and cross-functional delivery, the Operations Director will ensure that risks are managed, resources are aligned and teams have the support they need to perform at their best.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Driving operational excellence – leading governance across Projects, Packaging, Engineering and Facilities, ensuring priorities are clear and delivery remains on track.
• Strengthening financial control – overseeing budgets, overheads, forecasts and variances, identifying opportunities to improve cost efficiency and challenge unnecessary expenditure.
• Improving visibility and accountability – establishing effective reporting routines, action trackers and escalation processes to ensure progress, risks and decisions are clearly communicated.
• Managing suppliers and contracts – strengthening relationships, reviewing service performance and ensuring external providers deliver against agreed expectations.
• Putting safety first – embedding a proactive safety culture, with robust risk management and clear escalation procedures.
• Enabling production success – working in partnership with the Production Operations Director to ensure operational readiness, infrastructure and support services meet business needs.
• Developing people and performance – coaching managers, setting clear expectations and building a culture of ownership, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Creating consistency across sites – standardising governance, reporting, service delivery, cost control and performance expectations across multiple locations.

The Ideal Candidate

The successful candidate will be an experienced senior operations leader with a proven track record in a fast-paced manufacturing, food, fresh produce, FMCG, logistics or operational services environment.

They will bring strong commercial awareness, excellent organisational skills and the confidence to challenge existing practices constructively. Equally comfortable setting strategic direction and getting into the detail, they will know how to bring structure to complex operations, manage competing priorities and ensure actions translate into measurable results.

Ideally, they will offer:

• Significant senior operational leadership experience, including responsibility for operational support functions such as engineering, facilities, packaging, projects or service providers.
• Proven multi-site leadership experience across at least two sites, with the ability to establish consistent standards and ways of working.
• Strong budget, overhead, contract management and financial variance control capabilities.
• Experience implementing structured reporting, performance monitoring, action plans and escalation frameworks.
• The ability to collaborate effectively with Production, Finance, HR, Technical, Health & Safety and Transformation teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex issues and focus teams on the priorities that matter.
• A practical, solutions-focused approach, with the resilience to remain calm under pressure and the confidence to address risks and performance issues decisively.

Above all, they will be a visible, safety-first leader who combines commercial discipline with a collaborative management style, building trust while maintaining high standards of delivery and accountability.

Why Consider This Role?

This is an opportunity to make a genuine impact at senior leadership level, shaping the operational infrastructure and governance that enable a business to perform, grow and operate more effectively.

The Operations Director will have the scope to influence business performance, improve cost control, strengthen service delivery and develop talented managers, while working closely with senior colleagues to build a more consistent, efficient and resilient operation.

For an ambitious operations leader who enjoys bringing people, processes and performance together, this is an opportunity to make a lasting difference. Call Ian Reed for a confidential chat about this vacancy, or get your application in ASAP via. this website. 6135IR