Production / Site Manager

About the role

Our client, a well-invested manufacturing business in Ellesmere Port, is recruiting a Production/Site Manager with full accountability for the site: safety, output, quality, cost and a team of around 40 across two shifts, led through shift managers and a small technical/quality function. The site is profitable and the order book is strong — this is a build-on-solid-foundations role, not a turnaround. The brief from the board: keep safety genuinely first, professionalise the production system (OEE, planned maintenance, structured problem-solving) and develop the shift-management layer so the site runs as well at 2am as it does when you're standing on it. Capital is available for good business cases; the last three proposals put to the board were all approved.

What you'll be doing

• Own site safety: culture, compliance, audits, investigations and continuous improvement of safe systems of work
• Deliver the production plan on output, quality and cost across two shifts
• Lead and develop shift managers, team leaders and a technical/quality function (~40 heads total)
• Establish and drive OEE measurement and improvement across key lines
• Own the site budget: labour, materials variance, maintenance and consumables
• Drive structured problem-solving and CI programmes (5S, root-cause, waste reduction)
• Oversee planned maintenance strategy with the engineering team
• Manage key supplier, contractor and customer-audit relationships
• Report site performance to the board monthly with clear plans and honest risks
• Build capital expenditure cases for equipment and infrastructure investment

What we're looking for

• Proven production/site management in manufacturing with multi-shift responsibility
• Demonstrable safety leadership — NEBOSH General Certificate or IOSH Managing Safely ideal
• A track record improving OEE, output or cost with numbers to show for it
• Strong, visible people leadership through a shift-manager layer
• Financially literate: budgets, variances and capex cases
• Lean/CI qualification or serious practical experience (desirable)
• Experience hosting customer and accreditation audits — ISO 9001/14001 (desirable)

The package

• £50,000 – £60,000 depending on experience • Annual bonus on site performance • 26 days holiday plus bank holidays • Company pension scheme • Private healthcare and life assurance • Capital backing for good business cases — a board that says yes