We are a well-established FMCG manufacturer supplying national retailers and foodservice partners across Australia. As our business continues to grow in scale and complexity, we are seeking a strong operational leader to join our production leadership team.

This is a pivotal leadership role focused on ensuring the delivery of full production to the highest level.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer as a 2IC, you will take ownership of production performance across safety, quality, delivery to the plan and cost. You will coach your direct leaders to lift team performance, ensuring consistent quality of the production output, while ensuring labour targets and operational discipline are met.

This is a hands-on leadership role and requires a leader who is comfortable operating on the production floor where success will come from your ability to influence stakeholders, drive continuous improvement, and optimise plant performance.

You will play a critical role in embedding and improving operational efficiency, minimising waste and delivering measurable business outcomes. This role offers strong opportunities for career progression, including future leadership pathways as the Company continues to grow, with a 3rd site under development.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the factory team from the front

Coach and development your direct reports and support them to build their teams, including through succession planning

Drive production performance across safety, quality, cost, and service outcomes

Track and report on production metrics including quality, labour, cost per ton, materials used and waste

Improve equipment performance and minimise downtime in partnership with maintenance

Collaborate cross-functionally with planning, warehousing, quality, retail, maintenance and customer service

Standardise best-practice production processes across operations





Establish clear daily and weekly KPI governance rhythmsfor the factory production team

Ensure compliance with safety, food safety and regulatory requirements

Build capability and accountability within the production teams

Have technical oversight and the ability to operate production machinery with a thorough understanding of equipment capabilities, troubleshooting, and front-end maintenance

Recruit, train, and develop production staff to build capability and a positive team culture

What Success Looks Like

Within 12 months you will have:

Developed leadership capability within your team and all levels of leaders in manufacturing

Delivered measurable improvement in production KPI’s

Improved labour efficiency and cost control

Built a stable, accountable production team

About You

You like to face the challenge of modern automation, enjoy making a real contribution, and getting genuine satisfaction from a job done well.

A natural leader who builds capable, motivated teams

Commercial acumen with cost control capability

At least 5-10 years’ experience in a leadership role within an FMCG environment

Familiarity with food safety standards (HACCP, GMP) and WHS legislation

Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-volume 24/7 manufacturing environment

Sharp problem‑solver who reads the data and drives real improvements

Flexible - happy to step in and assist across all operational areas when needed

Comfortable operating and maintaining automated processing and packaging machinery

What’s In It for You

High‑impact leadership opportunity within a growing FMCG business

Direct influence on production performance and cost outcomes

Opportunity to build and shape a strong production team

Competitive salary package

Supportive and collaborative setting

Applicantsmust be able to work in Australia without any ongoing work restrictions.

Please note only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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📌 Manufacturing Operations Manager (Melbourne)
🏢 Important Company of the Sector
📍 Melbourne