Job Description

Location : Cookstown
Job Ref: UDF/2025/481
Employment : Full-Time Permanent
Closing Date : 18 August 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

The retail cheese facility consists of three high speed flow wrap lines in pillow and zip pack products as well as two high speed slicing lines capable of retail and food service products. The facility as a capacity of 30,000 Tonnes of cheese per annum and currently operates on a 24/5 shift pattern.


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


Your role will require you to support the day-to-day operational management of the retail cheese department. In addition, you will role model a culture of compliance in quality, good manufacturing practises, H&S, environmental standards and delivering reduction in waste and labour costs.


This role will blend hands-on leadership learning with cross-functional collaboration to deliver operation excellence, right first time and the drive for continuous improvement within the retail facility.

Key Responsibilities

Assist the Production Manager with the daily production activities of the Retail facility to ensure optimum operational performance. Reporting and trending KPIs such as giveaway analysis, OEE, throughput, headcount, yield, waste, etc on a daily basis, adhering to the production schedule to deliver and maximise efficient customer fulfilment. 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 Retail Production Manager with all aspects of people management for your direct reports and team, to include developing and empowering your team to assume ownership of their responsibilities, proactively monitoring and addressing poor performance, attendance and communicating effectively with your team. Assist the Retail Production Manager in ensuring that site policies and procedures are documented, trained to Line Leaders/Operatives and that SOPs are consistently followed. Optimising machine performance by ensuring all equipment is properly operated, maintained and cleaned to minimise downtime. Prepare regular production status updates and reports on a daily, weekly basis for the Retail Production 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, Capital and Continuous Improvement Projects that have an impact on Retail Production. Support the use of lean manufacturing techniques with particular emphasis on Lean tools ie 8 Step Problem-Solving process, Root Cause Analysis. Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in production, implementing improvement initiatives and continuous improvement strategies.

About the Person

Essential Criteria:

Educated to degree level, preferably in a food related subject or alternatively have a minimum of 3 years' recent relevant experience in a management/supervisory role within a food manufacturing or related industry eg FMCG, food/drinks industry A proven track record of the ability to proactively lead, train and motivate a team ensuring high performance. Competent in MS Office applications, Accident & Time Management Systems Excellent problem solving, organisational skills with a hands-on approach and determination to succeed in a fast paced environment. 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 management. Strong leadership qualities, practical approach and the motivation to inspire all the team.

Desirable Criteria:

Awareness of lean manufacturing or process improvement techniques. NEBOSH/IOSH Qualification




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

Completed application forms must be received online


before

5:00pm on Friday 18

th

August 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