Production Shift Leader: Coach & Drive Line

Seeing a supervisor you’ve coached handle a difficult shift confidently is one of the better parts of being a manager.

If that’s the part of your job you want more of, this could be worth a conversation.

A food manufacturer in Leicester is hiring two Shift Managers. You’ll lead five Line Supervisors across ten production lines, with a wider team typically around 42 people.

The supervisors are still developing in their roles. They need someone who will set clear expectations, spot gaps in their skills and help them become confident making decisions.

That’s where you come in.

What you’ll have the opportunity to change

Working directly with the Production Manager, you’ll help your supervisors take greater ownership of their lines and teams.

That means making time for coaching, following through on training and having difficult conversations when standards slip. As their confidence and capability grow, you’ll be able to spend more time planning improvements across the operation.

You’ll also own shift performance: OEE, waste, labour efficiency and labour hours per tonne. You’ll need to understand what the numbers are telling you and work with your team to improve them.

Outside normal office hours, you’ll be the senior operational person on site, including the first point of contact for health and safety and food-safety issues. You need to be comfortable making decisions and knowing when to escalate.

What you’ll bring

You’ll have led teams in manufacturing and be able to explain how you’ve helped a supervisor or team leader improve.

Perhaps you helped someone tackle performance issues they’d been avoiding. Or developed an operator into a capable team leader. Or gave a supervisor the training and confidence to run their area independently.

We’ll want to hear what you did and what changed.

You’ll also need experience taking responsibility for production targets, maintaining standards and improving performance.

Food manufacturing experience would help. If your background is in another manufacturing sector, you’re still welcome to apply. The business is prepared to train the food-specific knowledge for someone with the right leadership experience.

The package and working pattern

Both positions are permanent and Monday to Friday:

• Afternoons, 2pm–10pm: £45,000 plus a performance-related bonus of up to 7.5%.
• Nights, 10pm–6am: £45,000 base plus a 10% night premium, giving £49,500 before a performance-related bonus of up to 7.5%.

The bonus is split equally between company performance and personal objectives.

What happens next

The first stage is a Teams conversation to explore your experience and give you a fuller picture of the operation.

If there’s a fit, you’ll visit the site, meet the leadership team and present your priorities for the first three, six and nine months.

Apply with your CV, or call Declan Crowson at The Sterling Choice on for a conversation. Please let us know whether you’re interested in afternoons, nights or either shift.