Operations Manager

Operations Manager

South West | Complex Manufacturing | Growth & Operational Improvement

(relocation support offered)

A successful and growing complex manufacturing business in the South West is looking to appoint an experienced Operations Manager to take ownership of its operational performance and play a key role in its next phase of growth.

The business operates in a technically demanding manufacturing environment, with a diverse product portfolio, multiple operational disciplines and a strong focus on quality, delivery and engineering excellence.

With a turnover in the region of £16m and a workforce of approximately 70 people, this is a substantial operation — but still at a scale where an experienced Operations Manager can have a genuine influence on how the business develops.

This is a growth and improvement role, rather than simply a production management position.

The successful candidate will be responsible for bringing greater structure, visibility and consistency to the operation, improving processes and planning whilst ensuring the business continues to deliver high levels of quality and customer service.

The Role

Reporting to the senior leadership team, you will have responsibility across:

• Production
• Engineering
• Quality
• Maintenance
• Production planning
• Operational delivery

You'll inherit a capable operation with strong technical expertise, but there is significant opportunity to improve the way the functions work together.

You'll be expected to understand the operation end-to-end, identify the constraints and inefficiencies that are holding performance back, and then lead practical improvements across people, process and systems.

The ultimate objective is to create an operation that is more productive, more predictable and capable of supporting continued growth.

About You

We're looking for an experienced Operations Manager / Operations Director / Head of Operations who has worked within a complex manufacturing environment.

You'll ideally have experience of businesses where manufacturing involves some combination of:

• Complex or engineered products
• Multiple production processes
• Bespoke or configurable manufacture
• Engineering-led production
• Significant quality requirements
• Detailed production planning
• Multiple operational interfaces
• A high degree of technical or product complexity

You should have operated at a similar organisational scale, with genuine responsibility for production, engineering, quality and maintenance, rather than having responsibility for production alone.

You'll be a natural problem solver who enjoys getting underneath operational issues, understanding the root cause and implementing sustainable improvements.

We're particularly interested in candidates who have successfully taken a manufacturing operation through growth, increased complexity or operational transformation.

What will make you successful?

You'll be someone who can:

• See the whole operation, rather than just their own department
• Balance delivery, quality, cost and people
• Bring structure without creating unnecessary bureaucracy
• Challenge established ways of working constructively
• Use data and KPIs to drive improvement
• Develop managers and create accountability
• Get close enough to the operation to understand what's really happening
• Translate strategic objectives into practical operational improvements
• Build an operation that can scale with the business

Most importantly, you'll be comfortable working in an environment where things aren't broken, but could work considerably better.