The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced Plant Manager to lead the day-to-day manufacturing performance of a high-volume food production operation.

This is a hands-on role with responsibility across production, people, safety, quality, labour productivity and continuous improvement. The immediate focus is on bringing greater consistency to the plant, strengthening frontline leadership and improving the way the operation manages performance, solves problems and delivers against its production plan.

You will lead a two-shift operation across wet processing, packing and high-care areas. Working closely with the Production Team Leaders, you will set clear expectations, build capability and ensure accountability sits at the right level. A key part of the role will be developing the leadership team so they are confident managing safety, quality, people and operational issues and empowed to make decisions.

Improving Plant Performance

Operational performance will be a major focus. You will be expected to improve line efficiency, labour productivity, yield, throughput and manufacturing cost, whilst maintaining high standards of food safety and product quality.

The plant has a number of important improvement projects already underway, including better integration between wet processing and packing, greater automation across production and packing, automation of the heading process and the introduction of inline vision technology. The Plant Manager will play an important role in ensuring these projects are successfully implemented and, more importantly, that the improvements are sustained once the equipment is operational.





We are looking for someone who has a practical approach to continuous improvement and has worked in an environment where daily performance, problem solving, waste reduction and operational discipline are part of the culture. You do not need to be overly focused on manufacturing terminology. We are interested in someone who can identify what is holding a plant back, engage the team in solving it and deliver measurable improvements.

People, Safety and Quality The existing frontline team is experienced and stable, so this is not a role where you will be expected to come in and change everything. The opportunity is to build on what is already working, whilst introducing greater accountability and developing the capability of the Team Leaders. They are values based business putting people, safety and quality first.

You will need to be comfortable coaching people, delegating responsibility and having difficult conversations when required to help uplift capability. The right person will bring a balanced leadership style: someone who sets high standards and holds people accountable, but does so in a practical and respectful way.

Safety and quality are also central to the role.



You will work closely with the specialist Safety and Quality teams, whilst taking clear operational ownership across the plant. We want a leader who understands that protected working practices and food quality are everyone's responsibility, rather than something that sits solely with the specialist functions.

What we're looking for

We would consider candidates currently working as a Plant Manager, Manufacturing Manager, Production Manager, Factory Manager or Operations Manager within food manufacturing, FMCG, dairy, protein, fresh produce, beverage, food ingredients or another high-volume process manufacturing environment.

The ideal candidate will have a track record of improving manufacturing performance, developing frontline leaders and delivering measurable improvements in productivity and cost. Experience working within a structured continuous improvement environment will be well regarded, but we are ultimately looking for someone who understands good manufacturing discipline, practical problem solving and how to make a plant perform better.

The goal is straightforward: a safe, stable and predictable plant, with stronger frontline leadership, better labour productivity, improved production efficiency and less reliance on firefighting.

If you are a manufacturing leader who enjoys improving plants, developing people and turning operational opportunities into measurable results, we would like to hear from you.

If you would like to know more before submitting your application, please email [email protected] or PM me through LinkedIn.

📌 Plant Manager (Sydney)
🏢 Morgan Consulting
📍 Sydney