Production Manager
il y a 8 jours
Kettering
Production Manager required for the manufacturing division of a busy and well-established organisation based in Kettering, Northants. The position will be based in a modern production facility supplying special purpose equipment and machinery to industries throughout the UK and worldwide. The Production Manager is responsible for the end-to-end coordination of production activities and oversee operational delivery across buying, design, production, warehousing and quality, ensuring customer commitments are met on time, to expected quality levels, and within margin expectations. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring a strong engineering background, sound production management experience, and growing commercial awareness. Key Responsibilities include: Operational Delivery & Planning: • Own and improve end-to-end delivery performance from order acceptance through to shipment, installation, commissioning and service., • Lead integrated planning across engineering, production, servicing and buying, ensuring priorities, capacity and risks are visible. Production & Service Oversight: • Manage and support team leaders responsible for: o Mechanical, electrical and software/firmware design. o Mechanical production and assembly o Electrical production, calibration and commissioning o Global service and technical support o Warehousing & order fulfilment • Ensure production, calibration and service activities follow agreed processes and quality standards., • Ensure clear logging and escalation of design, production, supplier or parts defects. Commercial & Margin Awareness: • Achieve financial objectives through operational decision-making and close working with sales and logistics teams., • Reduce avoidable cost leakage through improved planning, sourcing feedback, internal manufacture vs subcontract decisions, and service charging clarity., • Work closely with direct report and senior leadership to help shape and deliver upon the divisions commercial strategy. Customer & Market Engagement: • Support development of service offerings, training, upgrades and aftermarket opportunities., • Contribute operational and technical input into marketing materials, product positioning and business development activity., • Support sales and logistics teams to resolve product or service-related customer complaints swiftly. Leadership & Team Development: • Communicate clearly and professionally with internal and external stakeholders., • Lead, coach and develop team leaders, improving planning discipline, accountability and confidence., • Encourage a commercially aware, customer-focused culture across production and service teams., • Support skills development, training records and succession planning. Continuous Improvement & Governance: • Work with the divisional manager to drive strategic product development aimed at gaining and/or maintaining a competitive advantage throughout the range., • Improve consistency of operational processes without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy., • Ensure feedback loops exist between sales, production, service, engineering, buying and quality., • Support audit readiness for CE/UKCA and UKAS calibration-related activities. Applications are invited from candidates able to demonstrate the following: Personal attributes: • Practical, grounded and delivery focused., • Comfortable balancing technical, commercial and people demands., • Calm under pressure and able to prioritise., • Willing to challenge constructively and improve ways of working, • Strong IT skills with an innate interest in keeping abreast of modern technology., • Longer term ambition to grow into broader operational leadership., • A confident communicator capable of addressing and presenting to the internal and external audiences. Essential: • A qualified mechanical and/or electrical engineer., • 5+ years’ experience within a senior leadership role., • Experience leading both design and production teams., • Strong planning, coordination and problem-solving skills., • Commercial awareness (cost, margin, customer impact)., • Experience managing and using ERP systems., • Comfortable working in a low-volume, high-value manufacturing environment., • Knowledge of European and/or international machinery regulations., • UK-based with right to work in the UK. Desirable: • Experience using Business Central ERP., • Exposure to profit and loss accounts., • Experience with machine learning and IoT., • Experience in the manufacture of high precision capital equipment., • Involvement in business development and/or product marketing Benefits include: Staff benefits include 25 – 30 days (service related) annual leave; life assurance; a group personal pension plan; income protection; free parking; flexible working hours, potential for global travel. Further information and a copy of the job description is available on application.