Chief Operating Officer

Do you have senior-level operational leadership experience within the food manufacturing industry? Are you commercially driven with a strong track record of improving operational performance, developing teams and delivering sustainable business growth?

Job Title: Chief Operating Officer
Location: Haverhill
Salary: £65,000 - £90,000 p.a. DOE
Hours: Monday - Friday 08:30am - 17:00 (flexibility required)
Contract Type: Full Time, Permanent

Our client is a well-established and growing food manufacturing business seeking an experienced Chief Operating Officer to join their senior leadership team and take overall responsibility for the operational performance of the business.

This is a key leadership position with responsibility for driving operational excellence across production, supply chain, procurement, quality, engineering and health & safety, whilst ensuring the business continues to deliver against its commercial and strategic objectives.

As Chief Operating Officer you will be responsible for:

• Providing strategic and operational leadership across the business
• Developing and implementing the operational strategy in line with overall company objectives
• Taking overall responsibility for manufacturing, production, supply chain, procurement, engineering and operational performance
• Driving continuous improvement, operational efficiency and cost reduction initiatives
• Ensuring production targets, customer requirements, quality standards and commercial objectives are consistently achieved
• Developing and maintaining robust production planning, capacity planning and supply chain processes
• Ensuring high standards of food safety, quality, health & safety and regulatory compliance
• Working closely with the Technical and Quality teams to maintain and continuously improve food safety and quality standards
• Leading, developing and motivating senior management and operational teams
• Monitoring operational KPIs and providing regular performance reporting to the Board
• Identifying operational risks and implementing appropriate mitigation strategies
• Working closely with Finance to manage budgets, costs, margins and financial performance
• Managing relationships with key suppliers, customers and external stakeholders where required
• Leading capital investment, automation, process improvement and site development projects
• Ensuring operational processes remain compliant with relevant legislation, customer requirements and industry standards.

An ideal Chief Operating Officer will have:

• Proven senior operational leadership experience within the food manufacturing industry 
• Previous experience operating at COO, Operations Director, Manufacturing Director or equivalent level
• Strong understanding of food manufacturing, production and supply chain operations
• Demonstrable experience of leading and developing multi-functional teams
• A strong commercial understanding with experience managing budgets, costs and operational KPIs
• Proven experience delivering continuous improvement and operational efficiencies
• Strong knowledge of food safety, quality, health & safety and regulatory requirements
• Experience working within a fast-paced manufacturing environment
• Strong strategic thinking combined with a hands-on and commercially focused approach
• Excellent leadership, communication and influencing skills
• The ability to build strong relationships at all levels of an organisation
• A proven track record of delivering change, improving performance and supporting business growth
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent organisational and project management skills.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced operational leader to join a successful and ambitious food business and play a key role in shaping its future growth and operational strategy.

Interviews will take place in Haverhill, following a registration process by PureKat Consultancy Ltd. If we have not responded to your application within 3-5 days, unfortunately you have not been successful on this occasion, but please feel free to contact us for other opportunities.PureKat Consultancy is acting as an Employment Agency for this permanent vacancy.