Continuous Improvement Manager

Are you a qualified CI practitioner with experience in manufacturing and proven track record in building CI culture? 

We are looking for a Continuous Improvement Manager to lead a revolution in our manufacturing environment and transform our teams into CI thinkers. 

You will pro-actively train and develop colleagues in skills and tools to implement improvements and deliver a positive step change in manufacturing performance. Our aim is for all departments run to their maximum efficiency with 'right first-time' product quality and minimum waste.

This role will drive a positive culture change, by being visible on the shop floor, acting with energy and pace, engaging with all levels of the manufacturing departments.

Experienced and capable of training and coaching individuals and teams in the use of LEAN and process improvement tools and techniques.

Assisting in reducing production operating costs whilst enabling world class customer service, maintaining high quality standards, and releasing production capacity.

An ability to influence at all levels and negotiate will be essential to success whilst collaborating with peers to support the entire business results focusing on Safety, Quality, Service, Costs, Innovation and People.

This role will be quite hands on as you will need to lead, influence, coach, encourage and support a varied team both in experience and competency to generate the right first time quality products, safely and efficiently. 

This role will be challenging, stimulating, and varied. 

It will enjoy a good level of autonomy and thus this role is for an experienced, self-starter who can create their own strategic direction, in collaboration with the Manufacturing Management team.

This is a really exciting time to join apetito as we are looking forward to growth and expansion of our manufacturing set-up. We are investing significant money in our infrastructure to allow us to meet business demands. So this role would suit someone who is looking for that same expansion in their career.

A degree of flexibility will be required as our factory runs 7 days a week, almost 365 days a year. Although based in our Trowbridge manufacturing site, some travel within the UK and further afield may be required. 

apetito is the UK’s leading food supplier to the health and social care sectors serving more than 1,300 care homes, health care and education settings.

Our meals are expertly crafted by our dieticians and chefs, and then frozen to lock in the goodness.

Wiltshire Farm Foods, our sister company, is the UK’s largest ready meal supplier cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK.

• Develop, implement, and manage a continuous improvement program - rolling it out across all manufacturing teams and functions focusing on every part of the journey from quick wins to excellence.
• Provide support and training for the front-line management team in addressing medium to long term issues, through the identification and resolution of root causes either directly or indirectly.
• Identify and provide collective solutions to potential issues within the manufacturing environment, working with and training staff as necessary.
• Analyse process capabilities and liaise with other support functions to ensure stability and consistency across all manufacturing processes.
• Drive continuous improvement through others across all manufacturing departments.
• Assist in creating a performance culture, motivating, and aligning all staff to a common goal of business excellence.
• Foreseeing, highlighting, and removing roadblocks to success, challenging beliefs, and questioning existing methodologies.
• Working through influence, acts as a principal agent for change, challenging existing practices by utilising, where appropriate, modern world class improvement tools, techniques and thinking.
• Make informed, data driven recommendations on improvement opportunities within the business. 
• Maintain all related improvement project tracking systems and provide timely information for the business in the form of updated reports and notice boards.
• Create and drive a pipeline of improvement projects and opportunities driving out costs through sustainable improvements, training staff where necessary in the appropriate tools and techniques required.
• Create and maintain a framework of tools and techniques that the site can use to drive operational improvements in conjunction with Group functions.
• Food Safety, authenticity, legality, and quality – focusing on factory standards and associated decisions, implementing, and monitoring corrective actions, closure of non-conformances and addressing customer complaints by improving manufacturing methodology.

Essential:

• Significant experience in applying LEAN methodology in a FMCG production environment.
• Significant experience and thorough working knowledge of manufacturing FMCG environments- prioritising safety and quality.
• Experience of influencing and developing large diverse teams, delivering a right first-time ethos
• Demonstrable experience of working in a change environment
• Lean, Six Sigma certified (preferred)
• Experienced change agent, able to influence at all levels.
• Confident using digital systems and software
• Experienced in the effective deployment of Lean manufacturing tools – such as Standard Work, 5S, SMED, RCA, FMEA and Error Proofing plus Lean development of processes via DMAIC and VSM, prioritizing food safety and product quality.
• Adhering to principles and values
• Upholds ethics and values.
• Encourages organisational and individual responsibility towards the community and the environment.

Skills:

Leading and Supervising

• Provides staff with development opportunities and coaching to achieve not only adherence to legal compliance as well as our policies and procedures but also their own career development.
• Motivates and empowers others to be the best they can be.
• Sets appropriate standards of behaviour.
• Promotion of culture where all employees are engaged and able to raise their suggestions.

Planning and organising

• Identifies and organises resources needed to accomplish tasks.
• Monitors performance against deadlines and milestones

Delivering results and meeting customer expectations

• Sets ambitious standards for safety, quality, and efficiency.
• Focuses on customer needs and satisfaction through liaison with internal and external customers.

Creating and innovating

• Seeks opportunities for organisational improvement

Desirable:

• Experience of taking a leadership role within a management team and being able to demonstrate key achievements and where they have personally added value.
• A Black Belt qualification in Six Sigma.
• Experience of fast-paced customer-facing environments
• Experience influencing a large food production shop floor environment
• Experience working with business management teams across the organisation
• Experience of SAP/ ERP systems
• Industry qualifications in Health and Safety, Food Safety and Hygiene
• Management qualification
• Educated to Degree level, or equivalent, preferably in Finance/Engineering/Science discipline

Skills

Deciding and initiating action

• Makes prompt, clear decisions which may involve tough choices or considered tasks.
• Takes responsibility for actions, projects, and people.

Analysing

• Probes for further information or greater understanding and produces workable solutions to a range of problems.

Adapting and responding to change

• Adapts interpersonal style to suit different people or situations.

• Competitive salary – accredited Living Wage employer
• 25 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays
• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days annual leave per year
• Discretionary annual bonus scheme
• Pension scheme - employer matched contributions up to 4%
• Life assurance scheme worth at least 1x annual salary
• Subsidised canteen
• Free parking
• Free turkey or voucher at Christmas
• apetito perks scheme including salary sacrifice options and retail discounts

As a family-owned business, we take great pride in being a company that makes a real difference and is dedicated to creating outstanding meals to be proud of.

We develop a range of products designed to enhance health and well-being for all our customers.

We are driven by a passion for service, and dedicated to feeding some of the UK’s most vulnerable people.

We proudly support British food and farming, focusing on using the best ethical and sustainable produce in alignment with our goal to reach Net Zero by 2040.

Our ethical standards are recognised by the ETI and we are an accredited Living Wage employer.
Learn more about apetito’s commitment to a more sustainable future.

We embrace inclusion, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Our commitment to making a real difference extends to customers, communities, and staff and we're on a mission to build an inclusive workplace where everyone reaches their full potential.