Arla Foods, Taw Valley Creamery, EX20 2DA
Days based role- Monday-Friday 37.5 hours
Who are Arla Foods?
At Arla, we do so much more than make some of the world’s favourite dairy products. We make healthy taste delicious, mornings worth getting up for & family dinners unforgettable. Cravendale®, Anchor®, Lurpak® & Tickler® – names like these make us a vital, natural part of modern life in over 100 countries around the world. We are part of a Cooperative with 4,000 UK & 19,000 global employees at the heart of everything that we do. Every single one of us plays an important role & together we build on our 10bn Euros turnover & establish our position as one of the largest dairy companies in the world.
What is our Taw Valley site like?
Taw Valley is situated in Devon, in the heart of one of the biggest milk pools in the UK. Our 24/7 site produces both branded & own cheddars including our award winning Tickler® and BOB®.
We are currently investing over 35m Euros in upgrading the site, both in process reliability & more environmentally friendly energy provisions. We are also looking at a huge growth investment opportunity which could transform the site in the next 3 years so there has never been a better time to join the team!
Benefits
1. Competitive salary (salary discussed at application)
2. Annual Pay review
3. Employer pension matched up to 6% (12% total contributory)
4. 4 x annual life salary assurance
5. Flexible Benefits- buy additional annual leave, reward gateway scheme- discounts with various retailers via my benefit platform.
6. People agenda commitment to training and development
7. Access to discounted Arla products
8. Most importantly- a cheese hamper at Christmas!
What will the role look like?
Reporting to the Site Operations Manager, you will be responsible for leading and managing our Continuous Improvement (LCO) team. You will set day to day objectives for the team and deliver operational plans, whilst resolving issues and escalation points. You will work cross functionally with teams on site, as well as the wider UK and global site teams, to share best practices and ensure our Taw Valley Creamery is running to a best in class standard.
You will be responsible for;
9. Ensuring the operating systems for the area are accurately managed, maintained and developed to enable responsive, data based management of the operation
10. Ensuring all aspects of the operation are resourced and rostered to deliver output and quality objectives and provide legal compliance
11. Contributing to an effective LCO(Line Centred Organisation) way of working
12. Maintaining and developing a highly motivated team with a developing skillset for continuous improvement of team performance
13. Managing own time and prioritising activities in conjunction with business plans
14. Setting standards personally and monitoring team performance
15. To be a key member of the Process Team and contribute in departmental activities
16. To be a key member of the site LCO community and interact with relevant site activities
17. Communicating with global specialist networks to seek best practice
18. Communicating with relevant third parties and suppliers to ensure awareness of latest technologies and best practice
19. Key contributor to site CI pipeline
20. Working closely with other departments such as engineering and supply chain to ensure best practices are embedded
21. Monitoring system faults across process and work with Supply Chain specialist to resolve
22. Collecting relevant data and interpreting results
23. Organise team workload on a daily basis ensuring clarity for team members(include coaching, assigning, follow up and feedback)
24. To operate equipment as appropriate when required
25. Seek continuous improvement to set and achieve departmental KPI’s and regularly update and communicate with the team and site
26. Assist the engineering and department teams with problem solving and maintaining equipment and processes at the highest standard
27. Update and maintain training and SOP planning and sign off. Drive the dialogue and barometer action planning within the department
28. Provide cover at meetings and dialogue with the senior team and others
29. To be contactable out of working hours if assistance and guidance is required occasionally by the team
Who are you?
You’re a born leader: You thrive in manufacturing leadership environments and are able to galvanize a team to deliver results and reach goals.
You’re a strategy guru: You’re a person with a plan- able to create a long-term strategy plan, including run strategy, asset and people, as agreed by the Factory Director; prioritize and plan resource development and deployment.
You thrive in complex problem solving, able to maximize the end to end supply chain and work with brand teams to deliver competitive growth through supply chain operations.
You’re a culture & change champion: You have a pioneering spirit and a growth mindset- and can develop this in others. You are a believer in transformational change and are able to bring people with you on the journey. You can build a winning culture through relationships and inspire others to deliver continuous improvement.
Key skills & experience
In order to succeed in this role you will need to be an ambitious, strategic and strong leader who has people management experience within a fast paced manufacturing company. You will be able to demonstrate strong skills in coordination and have a wealth of experience in operational and strategic leadership with an understanding of continuous improvement, lean manufacturing principles, culture change and stakeholder engagement.
You will also need;
30. Degree qualified or equivalent in a relevant discipline.
31. Experience of leading either (Total Performance Management), IL6S (Integrated Lean Six Sigma), IWS (Integrate Works Systems) or similar
32. Effective problem solving skills and ability to work under own initiative in a high speed environment
33. Significant experience in leading and developing a team
34. Previous experience of implementing digital tools would be preferred but not essential
35. Knowledge of BRC & Mark & Spencer’s standards (Desired)
36. Knowledge of quality standards and effect of incident on quality
37. Effective team worker, influencer and communicator
38. High in enthusiasm & passion
Things We’d Love To Tell You About Arla
39. We are a farmer- owned cooperative. That means we are committed to partnering with farmers so they are guaranteed a fair price for their milk.
40. We experimented with poo powered trucks (google it- you won’t regret it), and built the world’s first ever 100% carbon neutral dairy. All as part of our ongoing commitment to combatting climate change.
41. We are the producer of Lurpak, one of the world’s most iconic butter brands.
42. We are a Danish business, operating across the UK, Europe, Asia, The Middle East, North America, South America and other regions across the globe.
Next steps:
Please apply using the link or reach out directly to Rachel McDaid, Senior Talent Partner at Arla Foods. The closing date for this position is Friday 29th March.