Production Shift Manager

Join our exceptional team

We're on a mission to change children's lives through deliciously healthy food Did you know that the food we eat in our early years can impact our health in later life? That's why we lovingly prepare fresh and nutritious food that develops healthy tastes that last a lifetime.

Our recipe for success is built on the skill, experience, and care of our dedicated team. We work together creating an environment of care, creativity, and collaboration, where our team grow, and we share in success.

We're committed to operational excellence, innovation and building a high-performance culture. As we scale, we're looking for a hands-on, systems-oriented Shift Manager with a strong Continuous Improvement (CI) focus to build efficient production systems and ensure our operation is scalable, stable and responsive to demand. The role will report directly to the Production Manager.

What we offer:

• A supportive and passionate team of dynamic food professionals where innovation and improvement area celebrated and rewarded.
• A meaningful, fulfilling role within a values-driven, fast growing fresh food business.
• The opportunity to make a real impact on children's health and wellbeing across the country.

Perks of the role:

• Competitive salary with real growth potential.
• 33 days annual leave (includes bank holidays).
• Free hot drinks, breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• Discounted and tax-free nursery places for employees' children.
• A friendly, flexible team with social events throughout the year.
• Wellbeing resources and support including discounted gym memberships, cycle to work and eyecare vouchers.
• Free life coaching through Dream Academy.
• Free parking, surplus on-street parking available.

What we're looking for:

• To live our values every day (we really care, we're hungry for growth, one team one dream).
• A strong continuous improvement mindset, always working towards manufacturing excellence.
• Foster a culture of operational excellence by promoting best practice and knowledge sharing while collaborating with colleagues to identify opportunities.
• Proactively identify improvement actions to deploy and improve operational performance.

About the role:

The Shift Manager will be responsible for managing all areas of production, making sure they are being run effectively and efficiently while maintaining food safety and Health and Safety standards. A key part of this role will be ensuring alignment between production capacity, customer demand and ingredient availability. Able to multitask under pressure and be proactive. Demonstrate lean manufacturing techniques, while monitoring all processes are being followed.

Key responsibilities

• Oversee all aspects of production operations during the shift, ensuring consistent product quality and full compliance with food safety, hygiene, and regulatory standards.
• Collaborate closely with Purchasing, Goods In, Goods Out, Transport, NPD and Technical to align production activities and achieve operational goals.
• Foster a strong safety culture by maintaining a safe working environment and promoting best practices in health and safety across the team.
• Drive departmental KPIs through effective planning, monitoring, and performance reporting on a daily and weekly basis.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and implement targeted process improvements to enhance efficiency and throughput.
• Ensure strict adherence to FIFO principles, Critical Control Points (CCPs), and all food safety procedures.
• Lead and develop a multi-skilled, cross-trained team to ensure flexibility, high performance, and effective succession planning.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives focused on productivity, quality, and waste reduction.
• Strategically plan shift workloads and allocate resources to meet production targets efficiently.
• Communicate and coordinate production plans across all departments, ensuring smooth execution and timely delivery.
• Conduct regular toolbox talks and refresher training sessions to reinforce safety, quality, and performance standards.
• Lead daily shift briefings and board meetings with Team Leaders to align objectives, review performance, and address challenges proactively.

Experience and Qualifications

• 3-5 years supervisor/ management experience in FMCG Food manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of food safety systems, HACCP principles, and SALSA/ BRC or equivalent quality standards.
• Excellent people management skills, leading and inspiring teams and driving a high-performance culture
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills, with the ability to manage and resolve operational issues under pressure.
• Excellent communication, organisational, and time management skills.
• Experience working in a growing or fast changing environment preferred.
• Proficiency in Excel and familiarity with ERP or planning tools.
• Proven track record of delivering continuous improvement initiatives and achieving performance KPIs.

On site role, hours 10:00 - 18:30 with flexibility when required.

Other Information

This job description is not exhaustive, and the post holder is required to undertake any other reasonable duties as directed by the Production Manager.

We actively promote equal opportunities and are committed to equality and diversity for all our children and team. Applicants will be considered on merit only, irrespective of race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, or belief.

A copy of the Company's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy and Disclosure Information policy is available on request.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: £40,000.00-£45,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company events
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted or free food
• Free parking
• Health & wellbeing programme
• On-site parking

Experience:

• supervisor/management FMCG: 3 years (required)

Licence/Certification:

• Driving Licence (required)

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

Work Location: In person