Job Description

Location : Cookstown
Job Ref: UDF/2025/468
Employment : Full-Time Permanent
Closing Date : 28 July 2025 05:00 pm

Dale Farm Cooperative is a UK dairy farmer co-operative owned by over 1200 dairy farmers who supply us with fresh milk. Dale Farm has operations throughout the UK and Ireland producing and distributing a wide range of dairy products which it sells across the UK and Ireland as well as exporting to over 45 countries worldwide.


At Dale Farm virtually every career discipline is represented in our workforce, from production, engineering and distribution, to sales & marketing and food technology/quality assurance, to Finance, HR and IT through to general management. Our standards are high and when we recruit we are looking for those with energy and drive, who are keen for responsibility and motivated to succeed with a record of achievement and with the potential to develop as the company grows.

Culture

Our culture is based on setting best in class standards, working to-wards and delivering on committed objectives, striving for constant improvement and involving everyone in the company. We strive to develop our people and harness everyone's contribution to deliver a winning team.

Equal Opportunities

The company is an Equal Opportunities employer and is committed to a safe, inclusive and relationship based workspace.

Benefits

In return, we offer a high degree of responsibility, plenty of challenge, good opportunities for learning and personal development and rewarding benefit packages, all within a fast moving and results oriented environment.

About the Role

As an Assistant Production Manager, you will report directly to the Production Manager and play a key role delivering operational excellence within the Cheese and Whey departments.


Your role will require you to support the day-to-day operational management of Cheese & Whey departments. You will support the Production Managers in the continued development of a team of operators, operational accountability for the plant performance, supporting audits and key projects. In addition, you will role model a culture of compliance in quality, regulatory compliance, H&S and environmental standards.


By working closely with our Production management team, you will learn and understand the production process delivering a world-class performance. This role will blend hands-on leadership learning with cross-functional collaboration to deliver operation excellence, right first time.

Key Responsibilities

Assist the Cheese or Whey Production Manager with the daily production activities of the plant to ensure optimum operational performance

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Take ownership of compliance, and health and safety regulations, contributing to and ensuring an adherence to site safety culture. Take responsibility for product quality and adherence to GMP through management of the production team and process to deliver agreed product specifications as defined in quality standards and policies Assist the Production Manager in all aspects of people management for your team, to include developing and empowering your team of operatives to assume ownership of their responsibilities, proactively monitoring and addressing poor performance, attendance, and communicating effectively with your team. Assist the Production Manager in ensuring that site policies and procedures are documented, trained to Shift Managers, Team Leaders and Operatives and that SOPs are consistently followed. Prepare regular production status updates and reports on a daily, weekly basis for the Production Manager and General Manager highlighting key performance metrics, identify performance gaps, trends, potential challenges and improvements. Develop strong working relations with all internal departments including production, engineering, and quality. As part of a wider team engage with and facilitate with the delivery of site and Capital Projects that have an impact on Production Support the use of lean manufacturing techniques with particular emphasis on lean tools such as Problem-Solving, Root Cause Analysis and Standard Work for the investigation and identification of preventative and corrective action

About the Person

Essential Criteria:

Educated to degree level, preferably in a science or Food technology discipline or alternatively have a minimum of 2 years' recent relevant experience in a management/supervisory role within a manufacturing or production environment Proficient in MS Office applications Excellent problem solving and organisational skills with a hands-on approach Ability to work in an environment with competing priorities and manage multiple tasks effectively in accordance with production and delivery targets. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to effectively communicate to a range of internal and external stakeholders, and to coordinate between different departments and senior management. Strong leadership qualities and the motivation to inspire all the team.

Desirable Criteria:

Minimum of 2 years' recent relevant experience in a management/supervisory role within a related industry eg FMCG, Pharmaceutical Competent in using Scada control systems Experience in lean manufacturing or process improvement techniques.




Learn more about the company and to apply online dalefarm.co.uk/careers

Completed application forms must be received online before

5:00pm on Monday 28th July 2025

Only applications from EU Nationals or those with a valid permit to work in the UK will be accepted.

We are an equal opportunities employer





AMBITION | CURIOSITY | TEAMWORK | POSITIVITY | RESOLVE | ACCOUNTABILITY