OPERATIONS TEAM LEADER

Leprino is seeking to appoint an Operations Team Leader on a permanent basis. The role is based at our Magheralin site within the Operations Department.

The successful candidate will provide first-line leadership to a production team, ensuring the safe, efficient and compliant delivery of daily production plans whilst achieving high standards in health & safety, food safety, quality, cost, delivery and environmental performance.

The position requires a visible leader who can motivate, coach and develop teams, drive continuous improvement, and build strong working relationships across production, maintenance, quality, engineering and support functions.

Why Leprino?

Leprino is the world's largest Mozzarella producer, and you will have the chance to be part of a global team of individuals passionate about producing and delivering high-quality products that help feed and nourish families around the world. Our success is built on the dedication of our incredible employees, and we believe in sharing that success with you. Hiring great people who are in it for the long run is our goal! Your impact will be noticed and appreciated, as you seek to further our company, our customers, and one another.

What we can offer you:

• Competitive Salaries & Bonuses: Your hard work deserves to be rewarded
• Enhanced holidays & family friendly policies
• Life Assurance & access to health cash plan schemes: We care about your well-being
• Employee Assistance Programs & Wellness Incentives: Supporting you in every step of your journey
• Employee Engagement and Experience: including staff activities, fundraising events, employee discounts and much more

The successful candidate will be required to:

• Lead, coordinate and develop a team of production operatives to safely achieve shift, daily and weekly production targets.
• Champion a strong Health & Safety and Food Safety culture, ensuring policies, procedures and standards are consistently followed.
• Manage shift performance through effective communication, resource planning, problem solving and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Conduct team briefings, competence assessments, coaching conversations, return-to-work meetings and other people management activities.
• Monitor and respond to operational performance metrics including quality, waste, downtime, OEE and production KPIs.
• Lead investigations, root cause analysis and corrective actions following incidents, breakdowns and quality issues.
• Work collaboratively with Engineering, Quality Assurance, HR and other departments to deliver business objectives.
• Support training and development activities to build team capability, flexibility and succession within the department.
• Ensure accurate completion of production records, payroll/time and attendance information and departmental documentation.
• Promote and actively support environmental standards, GMP requirements and continuous improvement activities.

The successful candidate must have:

Essential:

• GCSE (or equivalent) in Maths and English.
• Minimum 1-3 years' experience supervising or leading teams within a manufacturing or production environment.
• Demonstrable experience of working with KPIs and delivering operational targets.
• Strong communication and leadership skills with the ability to coach, motivate and develop others.
• Experience using standard operating procedures and standardised work instructions.
• Understanding of safe working practices and commitment to maintaining a safe place of work.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workload and manage resources effectively.
• Good IT skills including Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to identify issues, solve problems and make sound decisions in a fast-paced environment.

Desirable:

• Supervisory Management qualification or other relevant third-level qualification.
• IOSH qualification.
• Experience within a food manufacturing or dairy production environment.
• Experience conducting risk assessments and implementing improvements.
• Knowledge of continuous improvement methodologies, root cause analysis and structured problem-solving techniques.
• Detailed understanding of food safety, quality systems and manufacturing best practice.