Operations Manager - onsite in Rainham WE ARE ONLY ACCEPTING APPLICANTS FROM A STRONG (CHILLED) FOOD MANUFACTURING BACKGROUND Working Hours Monday to Friday 0700- 1600 daily. The working hours are not limited to 0700 – 1600 as daily hours may vary to fulfil the duties of the role and to ensure that the plan is completed daily. About Frive At Frive, we make natural healthy eating easy with nutritionist-approved, ready-to-eat meals. We're the UK's highest-rated ready-to-eat meal brand, having delivered over 10 million meals, and we’re just getting started. We work with people from all different backgrounds and communities and recognise our own biases. We strive to create a strong sense of belonging and believe we will be better equipped to achieve our goals by building a team that approaches problems from different angles, using different perspectives and experiences to solve problems. All qualified applicants will be considered and we have no regard to age, ethnicity, ability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation the more the merrier and together we can achieve greatness. Now, we’re looking for an experienced Operations Manager from the food manufacturing industry, with experience with chilled products ideally in a scale-up, fast-paced modern environment, to help us take our team into the new era of food at Frive. Mission To make healthy eating convenient, delicious and accessible, whilst championing locally sourced and organic ingredients. Vision To inspire a global shift towards a healthier society by changing eating habits and restoring food to its purest form. Impact The Operations Manager will oversee the production process in our food manufacturing facility, ensuring the efficient use of resources, adherence to quality standards, and compliance with safety and regulatory guidelines. This role is central to optimizing workflows, managing teams, and driving continuous improvement initiatives to meet production and quality targets. Managing the Preparation, cooking, creation and management of a multi-skilled team to deliver operational excellence through the production of Frive’s food in accordance with quality and production specifications. Not limited to the kitchen and cooking and warehouse, but delivering end to end including Assembly, Boxing and Hygiene and engineering. To lead and manage the production processes from an End-to-end perspective (goods in and supply through to goods out including shipping) completing customer orders on time, safely and to required quality and margin To co-ordinate across the functions driving value for the business & customer To establish an industry-leading Continuous Improvement Culture Key Responsibilities Environmental Health & Safety - management, the Safety of the team and working environment Food Safety – delivering the Frive standard Quality attainment of standards as directed by The General Manager. Delivering an improvement plan for operational complaints and menu rating improvement. Labour Cost reductions and Labor Efficiency improvement delivery Materials Variance management and reduction Service Level of 100% delivery on time and at the appropriate cost Continuous Improvement Programme delivery. People Development - Train the production team in roles or responsibilities regarding goals and targets in line with operations strategy Achieve all agreed Manufacturing KPI’s Deliver Efficiency improvements in line with Business strategy and direction from the General Manager. Maintenance of metrics, reports, process documentation, customer service logs and other necessary documents to successfully complete the role. Target zero incidents Achieve all Manufacturing KPI’s Install, Embed and develop LEAN under the direction of the General Manager. Work with the production management team to plan or implement continuous improvement plans, to drive efficiency and Lean Improvements Training of the team to deliver Standards. Training an understudy / step up to cover vacations in all functional areas of responsibility and sickness to ensure continuity in all circumstances. Ensures all inwards goods are correct as per purchase orders and invoices. Liaise with suppliers if incorrect. Ensures traceability system is always implemented Ensure stock take are correct in all department, Usage quantity and values. Ensure appropriate stock level are kept on site that takes chilled and frozen store area availability in account Participates in daily/weekly supervisors’ meetings and team meetings Key Aspects of the role Understand and deliver the operational, technical and commercial drivers of the Frive products Lead cross functional teams to eliminate waste and improve process stability across the Frive value stream. Analyses problems, accounts for variances, drives for root cause and implements rolling improvement plans to deliver favourable impacts on safety, profitability, inventory, on time delivery, lead time & quality Deploy and coach through lean techniques required to deliver continuous improvement plans Drive a culture of change, continuous improvement and innovation through a partnership approach, engaging, coaching and developing the teams Document and formalize critical process to ensure sustainability Running Frive’s production end-to-end processes. Work with the General Manager and Head of Food to understand sales plans & future demand and deliver level production or take mitigating action Work with NPD to ensure lean principles are built into product & process developments Ensure adequate resources are provided, effectively maintained and safely operated. Evaluate potential new equipment, initiate, and manage capital requests Lead and manage the production facility completing customer orders on time, safely and to the required quality and budget. Ensuring results are maintained and displayed on a timely basis. Able to be hands-on on running equipment as required People & Culture Build a highly skilled, highly regarded and highly motivated customer & business focused team Develop team members in line with Company procedures ensuring deserving members are recognized and underperforming team members are given the direction required to improve