Surrey Foods is a specialist food manufacturer near Guildford — BRC AA-rated, supplies a small number of well-known retail and food-service customers, and is well-known in its niche. They’re hiring an Operations Manager to take ownership of the production function, freeing the Site Director to focus on customer relationships and commercial growth.
The role will own production planning, shift management across two production lines, the continuous improvement programme, and the relationship with the technical and quality functions. It’s an onsite role — food manufacturing is inherently onsite — and the early starts are part of the job.
Who fits: seven-plus years in food manufacturing operations, with at least three at supervisor or manager level. Familiarity with BRC standards (ideally AA-rated environments) is essential. Lean / continuous improvement experience is valued. The business is not looking for a turnaround specialist — operations are well-run; the brief is to keep them so as the business scales.
£55-68k + performance bonus + EV salary-sacrifice scheme. 100% onsite, with the production schedule defining the working week (early starts on production days). Free lunch, which sounds like a small thing but adds up.
Briefed by Thomas Okonkwo (Senior Consultant, Operations practice). First conversation is 30 minutes, no obligation.