Production Team Leader PM Shift - Halstead

As a Shift Leader (Focusing predominantly within Hygiene but with responsibility also for Production) at our Ferrero Halstead site — home of Eat Natural — you will be responsible for leading and coordinating a defined area of site operations, with the main focus on ensuring hygiene standards, cleaning schedules, and compliance requirements are delivered consistently and safely.

You will lead and support a team of Basic & Advanced Operatives, ensuring work is completed to the required standard and within the required timeframes, while maintaining the highest standards of food safety, quality, and health & safety.

Acting as a first point of escalation, you will respond quickly to issues, support operational continuity, and work collaboratively with Production, Engineering, Quality, and other departments to ensure the site remains compliant and audit-ready. You will also play an active role in continuous improvement, identifying opportunities to improve processes, equipment cleaning effectiveness, and team capability.

This is a permanent role working on a fixed shift pattern of Afternoons (2pm–10pm). Flexibility will be key to supporting changing production and operational demands.The shift pattern and operational requirements will be reviewed after 12 months to ensure the structure continues to best support production and business needs. 

In this role, you will take ownership of day-to-day activities within your area, ensuring people, processes, and performance are effectively managed. You will lead by example on standards, compliance, and safety, while working closely with other Shift Leaders and departments to support smooth and efficient operations across the site.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Supervise daily activities, predominantly Hygiene but with responsibility also for Production, ensuring cleaning schedules are completed on time and to the required standard, supporting site compliance with food safety and hygiene requirements.
• Lead, motivate, and develop a team of Basic & Advanced Operatives, providing clear direction, coaching, and support to achieve strong performance and engagement.
• Ensure all hygiene activities are completed in line with site procedures, safe systems of work, and required PPE and chemical handling standards.
• Act as the first point of escalation for issues, including missed standards, operational risks, or concerns impacting production readiness.
• Monitor performance, predominantly Hygiene, ensuring completion checks are carried out and issues are escalated appropriately.
• Maintain accurate records and documentation, ensuring systems are updated correctly (e.g., SAP or equivalent systems).
• Support site audits, hygiene inspections, and compliance checks, ensuring standards are maintained and corrective actions are implemented where required.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives, identifying opportunities to improve cleaning effectiveness, reduce downtime, and improve ways of working.
• Work collaboratively with alternative shifts i.e the early shift, predominantly focused on production, Engineering, Quality, and other departments to support smooth changeovers, line start-ups, and operational readiness.

Where required, support production tasks to ensure continuity of operations, particularly during shift handovers, absences, or operational changes, while maintaining hygiene and food safety standards.

You are a confident, supportive, and hands-on leader with experience working in a manufacturing environment. You are comfortable leading teams on the shop floor, making day-to-day operational decisions, and stepping in to resolve issues when required.

You lead by example, with a strong focus on safety, standards, compliance, and continuous improvement.

You will also be able to demonstrate:

• Experience leading or supervising a team in a hygiene, production, or manufacturing environment.
• A good understanding of food safety, hygiene standards, and health & safety requirements within a manufacturing setting.
• Confidence managing day-to-day performance, coaching, training, and engagement of teams.
• Strong attention to detail and a commitment to maintaining high standards.
• An organised and proactive approach, with the ability to plan and prioritise work effectively across a shift.
• Comfortable using systems such as SAP (or similar) to record activity, update completion logs, and support reporting.
• A collaborative working style, with the ability to communicate effectively with multiple teams and stakeholders across the site.

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Ferrero began its journey in the small town of Alba in Piedmont, Italy, in 1946. Today, it is one of the world’s largest sweet-packaged food companies, with many iconic brands sold in countries all over the world. Find out more about Ferrero at ferrero.com.

Ferrero is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture in which all employees feel welcomed and appreciated and have the same opportunities. We believe all our people are equally talented in their own way. In nurturing the curiosity and natural abilities of our employees, we provide them, generation after generation, the means to succeed personally and professionally, enabling them to craft their journey at Ferrero. The diversity of our talents is what makes our work environment multicultural, innovative, and highly rewarding.
Find out more here.