Site Director – Food Service Division
Locations: Huntington & Peterborough
Company: Pilgrim’s Europe
Pilgrim’s Europe is seeking an experienced and commercially astute Site Director to lead our Huntington and Peterborough Food Service sites. This is a critical senior leadership role with full accountability for site performance, including quality, health & safety, efficiency, cost control, and competitive advantage.
The successful candidate will have full P&L responsibility, lead and develop the senior management teams across both sites, and be accountable for all employees on site. You will play a pivotal role in driving operational excellence, delivering outstanding customer service, and supporting new product introductions on time and to specification.
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Key Responsibilities
* Overall leadership and optimisation of site performance across Huntington and Peterborough
* Full accountability for financial performance, including profit, turnover, margin, cash flow, yield optimisation, working capital and cost control
* Development and delivery of site strategy, budgets, business plans, forecasts and performance targets, aligned to overall business strategy
* Ensuring robust production and material planning to meet customer demand and operational efficiency
* Leading, developing and coaching the site senior management teams and wider workforce, addressing underperformance through training and corrective action where required
* Driving Operational Excellence and labour optimisation, embedding a high-performance culture with strong ownership for continuous improvement and innovation
* Benchmarking against best-in-class operations, introducing new methods and technologies, and proactively driving improvement initiatives
* Ensuring all plant and equipment are correctly operated, cleaned and maintained, and developing a rolling capital investment plan in conjunction with the Group Technical team
* Delivering best-in-class standards in product quality, customer service and operational performance
* Ensuring full compliance with all statutory, regulatory and customer requirements, including food safety, health & safety, environment, employment law and trading standards
* Developing and maintaining systems, procedures and working practices that meet group policies, accreditation standards and customer requirements
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Experience & Qualifications
* Senior management experience within manufacturing, with a minimum of 5 years at a senior leadership level
* Proven track record of leading a key function or site within manufacturing or food production
* Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and up-to-date knowledge of processing equipment
* Relevant qualifications in food, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain management, economics, or similar
* Demonstrable change management experience
* Customer-facing experience, including managing and developing key customer relationships
* Experience managing large, multi-disciplinary workforces
* Proven capability in developing, motivating and coaching teams
* Strong negotiation experience (internal and external), including pay negotiations
* Experience communicating effectively at all levels and across all functions
* Successful involvement in capital project implementation
* High level of IT literacy
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Technical & Commercial Capability
* Strong people leadership and delegation skills
* Performance management expertise, including KPI development and delivery
* Sound understanding of management accounting, budgeting and financial controls
* Strong commercial acumen with experience of P&L, balance sheets, ROC, financial planning and EBITDA
* Understanding of engineering processes and standards
* Knowledge of procedural agreements and union relationships
* Strong understanding of supply chain processes
* In-depth knowledge of GMP, Health & Safety and Environmental standards
* Excellent presentation and report-writing skills
* Ability to drive optimum performance across all functions
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Personal Attributes
* Results-driven with a strong commitment to success
* Able to engage, influence and communicate with a diverse workforce
* Demonstrable team builder and collaborative leader
* Confident to challenge constructively and make balanced decisions
* Flexible, logical and pragmatic in approach
* High levels of integrity; fair, honest and objective
* Passionate about food manufacturing
* Strong analytical capability with sustained drive and enthusiasm
* Self-motivated, organised and resilient
* Creative and imaginative thinker, able to “think outside the box”