Operations Director

£130,000 - £155,000 basic salary
Company bonus based on targets - 20% of basic salary
Company car or car allowance - up to the value of £6,500
Relocation assistance available
Phone and laptop
Matched pension, family health cover and life assurance
26 days' leave + 8 Bank Holidays

The candidate will ideally be located: London, Home Counties, M25

This fast-paced and dynamic food manufacturing business based in central London is experiencing astronomical growth and as part of a strategic decision, they now need to strengthen the senior leadership team by recruiting an Operations Director to join the company. The organisation has a strategic plan to increase sales, improve efficiencies and to increased EBIT over the next four years and part of this growth will come from the operation facility.

With over 20 years of trading, this business has a lot of practices and procedures in place however, a large proportion of them are not being enforced and utilised to its full potential. Therefore, the new Operation Director will have full control and autonomy to make the necessary changes as they see fit and to introduce new and improved practices.

The successful Operations Director will have a dual role where you will play an integral part in the overall company vision and strategy, as well as being hands-on with the senior management team. It's vital the successful person has the strength of character to drive operational changes as well as having a proven track record in managing large and complex teams through change.

The Operation Director's role will be as follows:

Complete ownership of the operational strategy and operations department for a food manufacturing business
Manage and lead a team of 450 permanent staff with an additional 200 temporary agency labour
To play an active part in setting and managing goals and objectives with the senior management team
Ensure departmental KPI's are met and to outline training programmes to upskill the teams
Provide hands-on leadership, guidance and mentoring to all team members within the department
Resource planning and full analysis of staffing levels, labour control and to ensure profitability within the department
To lead and promote all projects related to H&S, continuous improvement, lean, engineering, operations and hygiene
Departmental P&L control, manage operational budgets and cost-saving initiatives across the site
Analyse current KPI's and metrics related to OEE, scrap, waste, H&S, labour and OTD
Review and improve engineering spend and TPM/PPM
Identify, create, present and lead all CapEx justification, analysis and payback
Reporting on operational KPI's on a monthly basis to the Board of Directors
Ensure the site maintains BRC accreditations and all internal and external audits

The ideal Operations Director will have a combination of the following:

Experienced Operations Director, Manufacturing Director, Factory Director, Plant Director, Site Director or General Manager background
Must have worked in the food, food & beverage or food manufacturing sector
Experienced in hygiene and food standards
Proven and evident track record in lean and continuous improvement
Experienced in managing large and complex teams within the food manufacturing sector

The benefits:

Alongside a fantastic remuneration package, you will be working for a market leading food business where you will have the backing from the Board of Directors to make the necessary changes as you see fit. You will be working for a diverse organisation which invests very heavily in their staff, training and premises as well as providing a first-class service to all the major retailers across the UK.

Another benefit for considering this opportunity is because the company offers the successful Operation Director the opportunity to utilise their experience and to implement new and improved ways of working.

How to apply:

Please click "apply" or for further information, please contact Ajay Bhella at ATA Recruitment in Leicester on (phone number removed) or (phone number removed), or alternatively, please email me an up to date copy of your CV to

ATA Recruitment specialises in Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Civil, Transportation and General Engineering recruitment on both a permanent and contract basis - for more opportunities like this one, visit our website.

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ATA Recruitment specialises in Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Civil, Transportation and general Engineering recruitment on both a permanent and contract basis - for more opportunities like this one, visit our website