Senior Production Manager

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Plan, coordinate and monitor daily production activities to achieve production targets and customer demand requirements. Optimize labour productivity, raw material utilization, product yields and manufacturing costs. Monitor and control overtime, staffing levels and shift operations to improve operational efficiency. Ensure compliance with food safety, quality assurance, hygiene, HACCP, GMP and occupational health and safety standards. Coordinate equipment maintenance and minimize production downtime, wastage and rejects. Lead, coach and develop production teams, ensuring accountability and achievement of performance targets. Monitor production KPIs, prepare performance reports and implement continuous improvement intiiatives. Collaborate with Quality Assurance, Engineering, Planning, Stores and Dispatch to ensure seamless production operations. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE Bachelor's degree in Food Science or a related field. 15 years' experience, including 3 years in management. KEY COMPETENCIES Strategic, results-oriented leadership with a strong focus on accountability, execution and achievement of operational targets. Advanced production planning, capacity optimisation and operational excellence in high-volume food manufacturing. Commercial acumen and data-driven decision-making, with the ability to optimise costs, yields, labour productivity and resource utilisation. Influential communication and cross-functional collaboration, with a strong commitment to food safety, quality, people development and continuous improvement. Experience in meat processing, FMCG manufacturing or a similar high-volume food manufacturing environment will be a strong advantage. Knowledge of HACCP, GMP, food safety systems, production planning, cost control, yield management and labour productivity.