Job title: Head of Operations

Location: Corby

About Jacksons

Jacksons is part of William Jackson Food Group, a sixth-generation family business founded by William Jackson when he opened his first shop in Hull in September 1851. Today we have a range of businesses in distinct, yet complimentary market areas, employing over 2,200 people.

We have occupied the current site in Hull since 1907, and we now have 3 bread plants in our main bakery. In 2018, We opened a brand-new site in Corby, Northamptonshire – one of the largest investments our Group has ever made – and this has allowed us to realise our ambition of being the best at what we do. 2025 is an exciting time to join us – make this year a toast to you and apply now!

What’s involved?

As Head of Operations you will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of our Corby Bakery, working cross functionally to deliver through an efficient process and in line with KPI targets. You will provide leadership, management and direction to your team, delivering a high-quality service, ensuring the health, safety and welfare of the team are maintained. Responsible for the creation and delivery of the site’s manufacturing plan, which will safely reduce manufacturing costs. Product quality and safety are of paramount importance and you will ensure procedures are followed to deliver the highest standards possible.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

Operational Management

• Production KPIs - Proactively drive operational excellence through accurate and improved KPIs and improvement initiatives.
• Operate a lean production facility by improving KPIs; throughputs, yields, waste, downtime, labour, service, complaints, quality and hygiene.
• Visual Management – Ensure the bakery has documentation, procedures, meetings, reporting etc in line with other Jacksons bakeries where appropriate and in line with brand standards.

Technical Risk & Compliance

• H&S – Ensure Corby Bakery operates to our ‘Start Safe, Work Safe, Home Safe’ culture continually developing our culture of behavioural safety.
• Ensure risk assessments and accident investigations are produced and reviewed in line with Company policy.
• Compliance – Ensure the bakery complies with all necessary legislative requirements.
• Ensure food safety, legality & quality are of the highest standards, particularly around HACCP systems & controls.
• Maintain and improve customer and industry accreditations.
• Risk - Maintain the bakery’s strategy for risk and disaster recovery.

People

• Cross-Functional Team - Be a key member of the Leadership Team, with the ability to build strong relationships and communicate clearly across all levels
• Liaise and work with our central support functions, such as people, Supply Chain, Finance, Technical, NPD, H&S and Commercial
• Collaborate with other Jacksons bakeries for efficiencies where appropriate.
• High Performing Team – Continue to build a ‘Great Place to Work’ through a productive, positive, skilled and solution-orientated workforce. Drive colleague engagement at all level within the bakery.
• Create a culture of learning, knowledge sharing and high performance.
• Performance Management – Conduct ‘Inspiring Performance’ reviews with all colleagues in line with strategy.
• Conduct regular informal conversations and formal reviews ensuring all colleagues understand how they are performing, taking appropriate actions where required.
• Create clear training and development plans for all colleagues, ensuring a multi-skilled team, trained to the highest standards with a clear succession plan in place.
• Effectively manage your team to ensure the highest levels of attendance, attitude, motivation and skills, ensuring sickness and absence is monitored and managed. 

Commercial

• Operational & Commercial Alignment – challenge product mix, create balance and reduce complexity to grow the profitability of the bakery.
• Work with our finance and commercial team to provide accurate costs to produce.
• Work on capital expenditure proposals as and when required. Ensuring all capital investment projects are adequately resourced operationally and delivered on time and to budget
• Support the S&OP process in order to align the operational and commercial strategies
• To complete any other duties relevant to the role.
• Regular travel to other Jackson’s sites, suppliers and customers

Job Commitments:

The role is 37.5 hours per week, however the plant is operational 24/7, therefore some flexibility is required.

Qualifications & Experience:

•Must have Operations background and proven track record of target focused delivery in a fast-paced Operational environment, and ideally possess engineering background

•Experienced in delivering change and improvement in a fast-paced food and complex work environment

•Significant years’ experience in an Operational Leadership role

•Proven ability to plan and manage operational process for maximum efficiency and productivity

•Experience in developing and implementing a wide range of improvement projects in an operational context

•An understanding of technical and quality standards is essential along with excellent organisation, communication and interpersonal skills

•Ability to streamline and implement new structures and roles that create speed, efficiency, and support rapidly shifting business demands

•Strong working knowledge of industry regulations and legislative guidelines

•Proven ability to challenge, influence and do things differently with positive business benefits

•Proven ability to build and manage budgets and capital projects effectively

•An understanding of the principles of Operational Excellence and Lean Manufacturing having

successfully implemented and sustained lean initiatives

•Ideally educated to degree level or by professional body relevant to this position

•Ideally IOSH or NEBOSH qualified

•Ideally trained to Level 3 HACCP

•An engineering background would be an advantage for this position

Personal Attributes:

•Collaborative, approachable and a true people person.

•Strategic thinker who can translate plans into results.

•Confident communicator who can influence across all levels.

•Passionate about high standards, continuous improvement, and developing talent.

•Energetic, engaging, humble – someone who enjoys being part of a winning team.

Why Jacksons?

In return for your commitment as Head of Operations - Corby you will receive:

• Competitive hourly rate paid every 4 weeks.
• 6.6 weeks holiday, increasing to 7 weeks with 5 years’ continuous service.
• Stakeholder pension with generous employer contributions.
• Free bread allowance
• WJFG Wellbeing and Rewards Platform
• Online benefits portal providing exclusive discounts with over 900 retailers.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Support grants available for colleagues’ children attending University.

Thanks for reading our job advert. We do our very best to bring to life what it's like working as part of our team. Diverse teams really are the best teams. We want everyone to feel they can be themselves at work and develop their talents to the full. All colleagues are expected to take personal responsibility for keeping our workplace free from discrimination, harassment, and bullying - a place where everyone is treated fairly and respectfully. We also know that sometimes some candidates may be put off applying for a job unless they think they can tick every box. If you are really excited about working with us and think you can do much of what we are looking for but aren't sure if you are 100% there yet... go on... why not give it a whirl? Good luck!