Production Manager
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
Our client is seeking an experienced Manufacturing Manager to lead manufacturing operations within a fast-paced production environment. This is an excellent opportunity for a proven leader with a strong background in driving operational excellence, managing large teams, and implementing continuous improvement initiatives.
The ideal candidate will have experience within furniture manufacturing, woodworking, interiors, joinery, kitchens, shopfitting, or a similar high-volume manufacturing environment. Formal qualifications in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Continuous Improvement methodologies are highly desirable.
As Manufacturing Manager, you will take full responsibility for the day-to-day management of manufacturing operations, ensuring products are produced safely, efficiently, on time, and to the highest quality standards. You will lead and develop large production teams while driving productivity, performance, and continuous improvement across the facility.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, motivate, and develop large multi-disciplinary manufacturing and production teams.
- Manage manufacturing schedules to ensure customer orders are delivered on time and in full.
- Drive operational performance through effective planning, resource allocation, and workflow optimisation.
- Monitor and improve KPIs including productivity, quality, waste, efficiency, OEE, labour utilisation, and delivery performance.
- Champion a culture of continuous improvement using Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma principles.
- Identify and implement process improvements to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve product quality.
- Ensure compliance with all health, safety, environmental, and quality standards.
- Conduct regular performance reviews, coaching, and succession planning activities.
- Work collaboratively with engineering, maintenance, quality, and supply chain teams to resolve manufacturing challenges.
- Manage departmental budgets and control operational costs.
- Lead root cause analysis and corrective action activities to address production and quality issues.
- Support business growth through effective capacity planning and operational strategy.
- Drive best practice across manufacturing processes, ensuring consistent standards and continuous improvement throughout the operation.
The Ideal Candidate
- Proven experience in a Manufacturing Manager, Production Manager, Operations Manager, or similar senior leadership role.
- Experience leading large teams within a manufacturing environment.
- Background within furniture manufacturing, woodworking, joinery, interiors, kitchens, shopfitting, or a comparable industry would be highly advantageous.
- Demonstrable success in driving operational improvements and delivering measurable business results.
- Strong understanding of Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, and operational excellence methodologies.
- Formal qualifications such as Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, Lean Practitioner, or equivalent are highly desirable.
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Open your CV with a Personal Statement that explicitly names Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma, as the advert lists these as both key responsibilities and desirable qualifications — placing them above the fold maximises ATS scoring.
📊 Quantify your team leadership: e.g. 'Led a 120-person multi-disciplinary production team across 3 shifts, reducing absenteeism by 18% in 12 months' — the advert repeatedly stresses 'large teams'.
🏭 Call out any furniture, woodworking, joinery, kitchens, or shopfitting experience in a dedicated 'Sector Experience' line near the top; the advert flags this background as 'highly advantageous'.
🎯 Include a KPI achievements section with OEE, waste reduction, on-time delivery, and labour utilisation metrics — the advert lists all four as monitored KPIs, so mirroring this language directly improves ATS match rate.
🔧 List any formal Lean or Six Sigma certifications (Green Belt, Black Belt, Lean Practitioner) in your Education/Qualifications section with the awarding body and year, as the advert explicitly calls these 'highly desirable'.
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Drove OEE from 67% to 84% across a 3-shift furniture manufacturing facility by implementing Lean cell layouts and standardised work instructions, saving £320,000 in annual labour costs.
- •Led a 95-person multi-disciplinary production team through a Six Sigma Green Belt-led waste reduction programme, cutting material scrap by 19% and improving on-time delivery from 81% to 96% within 9 months.
- •Managed a £1.8M departmental budget across manufacturing operations, delivering a 12% year-on-year cost reduction through root cause analysis, corrective action plans, and targeted capital investment in workflow automation.
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Letter preview — tailored to Futures
Dear Hiring Manager,
Futures' search for a Production Manager in Chesterfield aligns directly with the career I have built leading large-scale manufacturing operations. With hands-on expertise in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies, I have consistently delivered measurable improvements in OEE, waste reduction, and on-time delivery performance across high-volume production environments — precisely the outcomes your client is seeking.
My background in manufacturing management includes overseeing multi-disciplinary production teams of over 80 operatives, implementing DMAIC-driven process improvements that reduced scrap rates by 22%, and managing departmental budgets exceeding £2 million annually. I have direct experience with production scheduling, capacity planning, and cross-functional collaboration with engineering, quality, and supply chain teams to resolve complex operational challenges.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›Walk us through how you have used OEE data to identify and eliminate a specific production bottleneck.
- ›Describe your approach to building and managing a manufacturing schedule to ensure on-time, in-full delivery across multiple customer orders.
- ›How have you applied Six Sigma DMAIC methodology to reduce defect rates in a high-volume manufacturing environment?
- ›What tools and processes do you use for root cause analysis when a quality or production issue arises on the shop floor?
- ›How do you approach capacity planning when the business is targeting significant growth, and what data inputs do you rely on?
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you led a large, multi-disciplinary manufacturing team through a significant operational change — what was your approach and what was the outcome?
- ›Describe a situation where you identified a major inefficiency in a production process. What steps did you take and what measurable improvement did you achieve?
- ›Give an example of when you had to manage a serious health and safety incident on the shop floor. How did you handle it and what did you change afterwards?
- ›Tell me about a time you had to control or reduce a departmental budget without compromising output quality or team morale.
- ›Describe a situation where cross-functional collaboration with engineering, quality, or supply chain was critical to resolving a manufacturing challenge.
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time you led a large, multi-disciplinary manufacturing team through a significant operational change — what was your approach and what was the outcome?
Describe a situation where you identified a major inefficiency in a production process. What steps did you take and what measurable improvement did you achieve?