Head of Winery & Operations
3 days ago
Bolney
We have a unique opportunity to join Bolney Wine Estate as our Head of Winery & Operations. At Bolney Wine Estate, we are proud to produce award-winning English wines, combining tradition, innovation, and a commitment to quality. This role sits at the heart of our operation - bringing together people, process, and product to deliver outstanding results aligned with our long-term strategy and growth ambitions. As Head of Winery & Operations, you’ll lead a multi-disciplinary team and oversee every stage of the journey from grape to bottle. You’ll play a critical role in ensuring operational efficiency, maintaining the highest standards of quality and health & safety, and delivering products that meet both commercial goals and consumer expectations. This is an exciting opportunity for a hands-on, detail-oriented leader with strong planning capability, a passion for winemaking, and the ability to balance technical excellence with commercial thinking. What you’ll be doing: • Oversee the full winemaking lifecycle including vineyard management, grape sourcing, harvesting, production, blending, bottling, warehousing, and supply chain, • Lead and develop high-performing teams across winery, production, vineyard, warehouse, and technical functions, • Plan and manage production schedules to deliver finished products on time and within budget, • Ensure full compliance with health & safety regulations, leading best practices across all operational areas, • Maintain exceptional quality standards at every stage, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and accreditation requirements, • Drive continuous improvement across operations, identifying efficiencies, cost savings, and process enhancements, • Manage supply chain activities including procurement of fruit, dry goods, and production materials, • Ensure accurate record-keeping, inventory management, and regulatory reporting (including HMRC requirements), • Oversee product traceability across the entire supply chain, • Lead operational audits and ensure site compliance across all areas, • Collaborate cross-functionally with sales, marketing, hospitality, and other teams to align production with demand and customer insights, • Support strategic planning including mid-term production, CAPEX investment, and product development, • Deliver regular performance updates and insights to senior leadership What we’re looking for: • Significant winery and operational experience, including strong technical knowledge of winemaking processes, • Proven leadership experience, with a positive and engaging management style that motivates multi-disciplinary teams, • Strong understanding of vineyard operations, production, and supply chain management, • A detail-oriented and highly organised approach, with excellent planning and scheduling capability, • A strong commitment to health & safety, with experience leading compliance in operational environments, • Commercial awareness, with the ability to balance quality, cost, and efficiency, • A proactive problem solver, comfortable working in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, • Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate across teams, • Experience managing audits, quality systems, and regulatory compliance, • Hands-on approach with the ability to operate in a physically demanding environment when required, • A passion for wine and creating exceptional products What we offer: • 25 days annual leave + birthday day off + public holidays, • Enhanced company pension contributions, • Discretionary annual bonus, • Private health cover, • Life assurance (4x salary), • Income protection insurance, • Employee Assistance Programme, • Enhanced parental leave, • Generous staff discount