Plant Manager
14 hours ago
Sheffield
Site Manager – FMCG Manufacturing (Confidential) Location: North East (Newcastle area) Salary: £100,000 – £130,000 + Executive Package Operation: Large-scale, 24/7, high-volume manufacturing site The Opportunity We’re supporting a well-established FMCG manufacturer with a long-standing reputation for quality, consistency, and reliability to appoint a Site Manager for a flagship operation in the North East. This is a business where people matter, standards matter, and the product matters. The site operates at scale, supplies major customers, and runs at pace, but it does so with a strong sense of pride, accountability, and responsibility to its people, customers, and community. The environment is food manufacturing, with a strong process backbone and a culture that values doing the basics brilliantly, every day. The Role As Site Manager, you will take full ownership of end-to-end site performance, leading a multi-disciplinary leadership team across Production, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and CI. This is not a remote or theoretical leadership role. You’ll be visible on the floor, close to the operation, setting expectations, removing barriers, and building capability. Key responsibilities include: • Full accountability for site P&L, safety, quality, service, and cost, • Leadership of a large 24/7 workforce, creating clarity, stability, and engagement, • Embedding Manufacturing Engineering discipline to ensure asset reliability, process control, and right-first-time production, • Driving a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and pride in performance, • Ensuring uncompromising standards in H&S, food safety, and regulatory compliance, • Translating customer demand into robust, executable production plans, • Developing leaders and operators through clear standards, coaching, and ownership The Culture Fit, this business values leaders who are: • Down-to-earth, straight-talking, and credible on the shop floor, • Passionate about people development and engagement, not just output, • Focused on long-term operational stability, not short-term firefighting, • Comfortable making decisions, holding standards, and backing their teams, • Proud of building something sustainable rather than chasing quick wins Background & Experience You’ll bring experience from high-volume, regulated manufacturing environments, ideally with a strong engineering backbone. Relevant sectors include: • FMCG manufacturing, Food regulated process manufacturing, Ingredients, bulk processing, packaging, paper, or converting operations, • Thermal Manufacturing experience is essential, • Automated, high-speed production environments, • Proven experience running a large-scale manufacturing site, • Strong Manufacturing / Mechanical / Electrical Engineering foundations, • Experience leading 24/7 operations with complex labour models, • A track record of improving safety, reliability, engagement, and service, • A leadership style that’s firm, fair, and human Your Background • Proven experience leading a large, complex manufacturing site, • Strong grounding in Manufacturing / Mechanical / Electrical Engineering, • Track record of running 24/7 operations at scale, • Comfortable balancing people leadership with hard operational metrics, • Commercially astute, calm under pressure, and decisive, • Someone who doesn’t hide in meetings when the line’s down Why This Role • A genuine site leadership role, not a caretaker position, • Significant autonomy and influence, • High-profile operation with clear expectations and backing, • Competitive executive package (£100–130k) reflecting the scale and accountability