Distillery Manager

Be part of shaping the future of one of Scotland's most innovative distilleries.

Do you believe that the whisky industry is the most fascinating industry in the world?

Are you an experienced distillery leader who combines strong technical knowledge with hands-on leadership and commercial awareness? Are you passionate about making exceptional spirit while continuously challenging how things can be done better?

If so, you might be the person we are looking for as our new Distillery Manager at Inch Dairnie Distillery.

At Inch Dairnie, innovation is not something we add to tradition – it is part of how we distil.

As Distillery Manager, you will take overall responsibility for the safe, compliant and effective operation of our distillery and warehousing activities. You will lead the team responsible for turning our ambitious production plans into high-quality new make spirit, while ensuring that safety, quality, efficiency and compliance remain uncompromising standards.

This is a broad leadership role with genuine ownership. You will have responsibility for day-to-day operations while also helping to shape the future development of the distillery. From people, production and process safety to safety, quality, budgets, procurement and regulatory compliance, you will be at the center of our distilling operation.

You will join a dedicated and forward-thinking team that cares deeply about quality, craft and collaboration. We are proud of what we have built, but equally interested in what we can improve next.

As our Distillery Manager, you will take ownership of the performance of the distillery and warehouses. Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading the safe and compliant operation of the distillery and our lower tier COMAH warehouse site, ensuring that health, safety and process safety are embedded in how we work every day. You will also support the planning and compliance work required if additional warehousing moves the site to upper-tier COMAH status.
• Ensuring the distillery and warehouses operate in full compliance with HMRC requirements, including responsibility for operational transactions in DRAMS and all required monthly, quarterly and annual HMRC returns.
• Delivering the agreed distillery production plan and warehouse activities safely, efficiently and within agreed budgets.
• Maintaining the quality and consistency of our new make spirit, ensuring our exacting standards are achieved throughout production.
• Leading, supporting and developing the people working across the distillery and warehouses, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement and pride in what we produce.
• Driving operational excellence, identifying opportunities to improve reliability, efficiency, yield, resource utilisation and ways of working without compromising safety or quality.
• Sourcing raw materials, utilities and consumables in collaboration with the finance function, ensuring operational requirements are met while maintaining appropriate commercial oversight.
• Developing annual operating budgets together with the finance team and taking responsibility for delivering operations at or below agreed budgets.
• Playing a key role in new fillings sales to third parties, with the scope to take significant ownership of this area, working closely with senior management and relevant internal and external stakeholders.
• Participating in the on-call rota to support the safe operation of the distillery and warehouse outside normal working hours.
• Support brand development through active participation in masterclasses, tastings, trade events, and consumer engagement activities, representing the distillery and sharing technical production expertise.
• Building strong working relationships across the organisation and with relevant external partners, regulators and suppliers.
• Contributing to the continued development of Inch Dairnie, bringing ideas, technical insight and practical leadership to how we operate and grow.

You are first and foremost an experienced distillery professional and people leader.

You are comfortable taking responsibility for a complex operation where safety, compliance and quality are non-negotiable. At the same time, you are curious about how processes can be improved and are prepared to challenge established ways of working when there is a better solution.

You are visible, practical and comfortable being close to the operation. You can move…