The Company
Our client is a market leading agricultural manufacturing business seeking a highly motivated and experienced General Manager Processing to lead and manage all aspects of Manufacturing, Maintenance, Capital Engineering, raw material procurement and Warehousing/Logistics. As a key member of our leadership team, you will focus on compliance, continuous improvement, and Workplace Health & Safety, driving best practices to optimize operational performance, safety, and product quality. Your leadership will also empower and support the entire business through a further exciting growth phase.
The Role
Reporting to the CEO your role will be responsible for:
* Develop and implement strategies to scale operations in line with company growth, empowering and supporting direct reports to meet operational demands.
* Anticipate future needs and develop plans to address growing site installation projects.
* Lead, motivate, and engage teams across manufacturing, engineering, and procurement to achieve individual, team, and site objectives.
* Foster a culture of business improvement and accountability to ensure continuous results and performance enhancement.
* Implement leadership development programs to build a strong succession pipeline for long-term leadership stability.
* Promote a safety-first culture across the site, ensuring that WH&S processes are in place, including induction, training, and safety programs.
* Drive excellence in safety performance, risk awareness, and compliance with safety regulations.
* Ensure that operational systems support the maintenance of BRC and other GMP standards.
* Regularly review and improve operational processes to maintain high-quality standards and compliance.
* Develop, track, and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) including labour optimization, overtime, OEE, throughput rates, and inventory.
* Address performance gaps by implementing corrective actions to drive continuous improvement and operational efficiency.
* Serve as the main point of contact for high-level client interactions, addressing operational concerns and ensuring prompt, clear communication.
* Manage supplier relationships.
Your Background
In order to be successful in this role you will have:
* Operations leadership experience, responsible for leading manufacturing teams in a food / agricultural manufacturing environment.
* Degree qualified Engineer or senior level manufacturing operations leadership experience – Ideally 5-10 years+ at Site Manager level.
* Proven experience in developing and building strong leadership groups within a manufacturing plant leading to positive change.
* Must have the ability and track record of delivering the longer-term strategic vision.
* Experience working with engineering and being either involved from an Operations perspective on the delivery of large capital projects, ideally those that have included automated warehousing equipment & processes.
* Strong continuous improvement background with a good grasp of sophisticated continuous improvement methodologies such as LEAN / Six Sigma and 5Y problem-solving tools.
* Good commercial acumen, able to understand and manage finances / P&L with the ability to identify the key cost drivers in a fast-paced manufacturing plant.
* Strong communication, coaching, consultation and negotiation skills with an ability to engage and influence internal stakeholders.
What's On Offer
This is a rare opportunity to step into a pivotal leadership role within a market-leading business poised for continued growth. You'll be empowered to shape operational strategy, deliver real impact, and position yourself for future executive-level opportunities. An attractive salary package is on offer, including base salary, superannuation, and performance-based bonus.
If you would like to discuss this opportunity further you can contact Maurice Tranchina at Blackbook Executive on