Head of Operations - County Offaly

Head of Operations - County Offaly.

Our client is a market leading food production company.

We seek a Head of Operations who will have full end-to-end responsibility for manufacturing, technical, people and commercial performance of the site. The position is the most senior operational leader on site and has full accountability for the safe and efficient operation of the plant.
The role is responsible for translating organisational strategy into operational delivery, ensuring the site consistently achieves its performance objectives across safety, quality, service, people, cost and continuous improvement.
Working closely with the wider Group leadership, the successful candidate will develop and execute the site's strategic roadmap, drive a high-performance culture, and position the business for future growth through operational excellence, customer focus and strong leadership.
This role requires an experienced food manufacturing leader capable of balancing strategic thinking with hands-on operational leadership within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Key Accountabilities:
Strategic Leadership-
• Develop and deliver the site's annual operating plan aligned to group strategy and customer requirements.
• Translate business objectives into clear operational priorities and measurable deliverables.
• Set the strategic direction of the site through the leadership team.
• Ensure alignment between production, engineering, technical, supply chain, finance and people functions.
• Lead long-term capacity planning and site development initiatives.
• Identify opportunities for business growth, capability enhancement and operational transformation.
• Act as the senior ambassador for the business both internally and externally.

Operational Leadership-
• Deliver all manufacturing objectives relating to Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery and People.
• Ensure production plans are executed efficiently while maintaining product integrity and customer service levels.
• Drive overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), labour productivity, yield performance and operational efficiencies.
• Lead daily, weekly and monthly performance review processes.
• Ensure robust performance management through agreed KPI's and reporting structures.
• Challenge existing processes and implement improvements that optimise performance and reduce waste.
• Ensure the operation remains agile and capable of responding to changing customer demand.

Key measures include:
• Labour Efficiency
• Yield
• OEE
• Waste Reduction
• Cost per Unit
• Customer Complaints
• Service Level
• Inventory Accuracy
• EBITDA Contribution

Food Safety, Quality & Compliance Leadership-
• Act as the site's ultimate leader and champion of food safety culture.
• Ensure compliance with all legal, regulatory and customer standards.
• Maintain world-class standards across food safety, quality and hygiene.
• Ensure robust HACCP systems are maintained and continuously improved.
• Lead site readiness for customer, regulatory and third-party audits.
• Drive compliance with:
o BRCGS
o Retailer Codes of Practice
o Bord Bia requirements
o Food Safety Authority of Ireland regulations
o Environmental legislation
o Group quality standards
• Maintain a proactive approach to risk management and product integrity.
• Lead investigations and resolution of significant quality or compliance incidents.

Customer & Retailer Relationship Management
• Build strong relationships with key retail and customer stakeholders.
• Represent the site during retailer visits and customer reviews.
• Support commercial teams in maintaining and growing strategic customer accounts.
• Deliver commitments relating to service, quality and innovation.
• Lead responses to customer escalations and major service issues.
• Ensure customer expectations are fully understood and consistently exceeded.

Health, Safety & Environment
• Create and sustain a culture where safety is the number one priority.
• Ensure compliance with all health and safety legislation and company policies.
• Deliver continuous improvement in safety performance indicators.
• Lead behavioural safety and risk reduction programmes.
• Chair site safety reviews and governance meetings.
• Ensure all managers are accountable for H&S performance.
• Drive environmental sustainability initiatives and compliance standards.
Key measures include:
• Lost Time Accident Frequency Rate
• Near Miss Reporting
• Risk Reduction Actions
• Safety Audit Compliance
• Environmental Metrics

Financial Management
• Own full site P&L performance.
• Manage budgets and financial targets in line with business expectations.
• Deliver annual productivity and cost improvement programmes.
• Challenge expenditure and maximise return on investment across all functions.
• Ensure strong financial governance and cost control disciplines.
• Lead annual budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Support capital investment business cases and project delivery.

Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
• Lead implementation of lean manufacturing principles throughout the site.
• Drive the site's Continuous Improvement, Lean and MANEX agenda.
• Develop a culture focused on root cause analysis and problem-solving.
• Lead value stream optimisation projects.
• Deliver measurable improvements in productivity, waste reduction and operational effectiveness.
• Sponsor cross-functional improvement initiatives.
• Ensure CI capability is embedded at all levels of the organisation.
Methodologies may include:
• Lean Manufacturing
• Six Sigma
• TPM
• SMED
• Kaizen
• Problem Solving
• Visual Management
• Performance Management Systems

Engineering & Asset Care
• Ensure engineering capability supports current and future business requirements.
• Develop robust preventative maintenance and asset reliability programmes.
• Sponsor major engineering and capital investment projects.
• Improve equipment reliability and production uptime.
• Develop long-term asset replacement and site infrastructure plans.
• Ensure engineering standards are maintained across all areas.

People Leadership & Culture
• Lead and inspire a team of functional leaders and approximately 250 colleagues.
• Create an engaged, accountable and high-performing culture.
• Build organisational capability through succession planning and talent development.
• Coach and develop leaders across all functions.
• Drive employee engagement and retention strategies.
• Promote a culture of accountability, inclusion and continuous learning.
• Lead change management initiatives effectively.
• Ensure strong communication throughout the business.
Success in this area will be demonstrated through:
• Employee Engagement Scores
• Attrition Rates
• Internal Promotion Metrics
• Leadership Capability
• Training Compliance

Interested applicants should have:
• Minimum 10 years' senior leadership experience within FMCG manufacturing.
• Significant experience within food manufacturing environments.
• Experience leading high-care and/or high-risk food production facilities.
• Previous experience as:
o Site Director or General Manager or Operations Director or Factory Manager or Head of Operations
• Demonstrated accountability for a large manufacturing site and associated P&L.
• Experience managing multi-disciplinary leadership teams.
• Track record of delivering operational turnarounds and performance improvement programmes.
• Ideally experience operating within retailer-facing own-label manufacturing environments.
• Strong audit leadership experience.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:
Strategic Thinking: Ability to create long-term plans while maintaining operational focus.
Commercial acumen: Strong understanding of profitability, customer requirements and market dynamics.
Results orientation: Relentless focus on delivery and continuous improvement.
Leadership Presence: Ability to inspire confidence, challenge constructively and establish credibility.
Change Leadership: Comfortable leading transformation in complex environments.
Decision Making: Able to make timely, balanced decisions using data and judgement.
Stakeholder Management: Excellent relationship-building skills with customers, colleagues and senior leaders.
Resilience: Thrives under pressure and manages competing priorities effectively.