High Risk Department Manager
Shift Pattern: 40 hours per week Monday – Friday (with flexibility to cover a number of shift patterns, including weekends when required)
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced leader to join our Operations team.
A bit about us
Cranswick Convenience Foods is one of the largest cooked meats manufacturers in the UK, supplying high quality cooked meats, from standard tiers through to premium, to leading high street retailers.
With a diverse team of over 1,000 colleagues, every day at Cranswick brings unique challenges and opportunities for personal and professional growth – there has never been a more exciting time to join us!
What you’ll be doing
As High Risk Department Manager you will lead the High Risk operations team, ensuring your area of responsibility consistently delivers exceptional quality, food safety and operational performance. You’ll take ownership of daily performance, driving a culture where safety, efficiency and continuous improvement come first.
You’ll create a high-performing environment built on teamwork, development and clear communication. You’ll be hands-on in motivating, coaching and developing your team, building capability, supporting succession planning and ensuring everyone has the training they need to succeed.
In this role, you will:
People Leadership & Development
- Lead, motivate and inspire your team to achieve their best every day.
- Create a positive, inclusive culture where continuous learning and development are encouraged.
- Build and deliver training plans to upskill colleagues and strengthen competence across the department.
- Identify talent, manage succession planning and prepare team members for future roles within the business.
- Carry out performance reviews, support career development conversations and address underperformance where necessary.
- Play an active role in recruitment, onboarding and building long‑term capability.
- Promote strong communication, teamwork and employee engagement across shifts.
Operational Excellence
- Manage all aspects of high-risk production, ensuring outstanding product quality, food safety and GMP compliance.
- Deliver planned outputs on time and to the required standards, adjusting plans where needed to maintain efficiency.
- Monitor KPIs and take timely corrective action to keep performance on track.
- Drive change and continuous improvement by identifying weak spots, implementing solutions and delivering measurable gains in waste, cost and efficiency.
- Ensure all paperwork, audits, checks and process documentation are completed accurately and on time.
- Maintain close communication with Technical, Planning, Engineering, Human Resources and other departments to resolve issues quickly and collaboratively.
- Champion a proactive Health & Safety culture, ensuring all risk assessments, safety checks and investigations are carried out effectively.
- Support business needs with flexibility, including flexing hours based on operational demand.
A full job description is available upon request.
What we need from you
We’re looking for a strong, forward‑thinking leader - someone who thrives in a fast‑paced environment and is passionate about developing people. You’ll be confident driving change, adapting quickly to operational challenges and bringing others along with you.
Here’s what you’ll bring:
- A natural ability to develop and motivate people, with a real focus on coaching, training and succession planning.
- Resilience and adaptability - you’re comfortable navigating change and helping others adjust to new ways of working.
- Strong organisational skills with the ability to meet production targets while maintaining high standards of safety, quality and compliance in a fast-paced environment.
- A proactive mindset, always looking for opportunities to drive change by improving processes, reducing waste and enhancing efficiency.
- Excellent communication skills and the confidence to work collaboratively with cross‑functional teams.
- A commitment to maintaining outstanding Health & Safety, Food Safety and Hygiene standards.
- A solution‑focused approach, able to analyse problems, adjust plans when needed and keep operations running smoothly.
- Proven leadership experience within a production or manufacturing environment is not essential but would be advantageous.
What you’ll get in return
We offer a fantastic reward package in return, here’s a peek at some of our fantastic benefits:
- Discounted ShareSave scheme
- Enhanced Maternity, Paternity & Adoption pay with service
- Enhance pension scheme
- Long service awards – vouchers and enhanced holidays with service
- Access to our ‘Feed Your Wellbeing’ hub offering a range of retail, restaurant and entertainment discounts, as well as access to health and wellbeing support (including 24h virtual GP)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Opportunity to purchase extra holidays
- Recommend a friend scheme
- Life assurance cover
- Access to discounted and exclusive memberships
- On site parking
Interested?
Send us your CV and covering letter to [email protected] and let us know what position you’re applying for in the subject of the email.
Closing date: Friday 20th March (please note that the closing date may be brought forward)
If you are an internal applicant please notify your line manage before applying