The Company

Our client is a market-leading food manufacturing business seeking a technically strong senior leader with a background in engineering-led operations to take ownership of site performance and future capability. This role oversees Manufacturing, Maintenance, Capital Engineering, Procurement, Warehousing & Logistics, Finance and HR, with a strong focus on asset performance, capital delivery, process optimisation and engineering-driven continuous improvement. As part of the senior leadership team, you will play a critical role in scaling site capability, delivering major upgrades and infrastructure projects, and embedding best practice across safety, reliability, quality and performance.

The Role

You will be responsible for:

• Developing and executing engineering-led strategies to scale production capacity and site capability in line with business growth.
• Leading site master planning, including future infrastructure, equipment upgrades and installation of new technologies.
• Owning the delivery of capital projects from concept through to commissioning and operational handover.
• Driving asset reliability, maintenance effectiveness and overall equipment performance across the site.
• Leading cross-functional teams across manufacturing, engineering, maintenance, logistics, safety, finance and HR.
• Embedding a strong continuous improvement culture, using data, root cause analysis and structured problem-solving to deliver measurable results.
• Implementing leadership development and capability uplift across technical and operational teams.
• Championing a safety-first culture, ensuring WH&S systems, engineering standards and risk controls are robust and effective.
• Continuously reviewing site systems, processes and performance metrics to improve quality, compliance and productivity.

Your Background

You will bring a strong blend of technical depth and operational leadership, including:

• Proven senior leadership experience within food, FMCG, beverage or process manufacturing environments.
• 5–10+ years’ experience operating at Site Manager, Operations Manager, Engineering Manager or equivalent senior level.
• Engineering qualification (Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics, Industrial or similar) highly regarded.
• Strong experience leading major capital projects, ideally involving automation, materials handling systems, packaging lines or warehousing technology.
• Demonstrated success improving plant performance through reliability engineering, asset management and continuous improvement frameworks.
• Advanced understanding of LEAN, Six Sigma, OEE, RCA, and structured problem-solving methodologies.
• Strong commercial awareness with experience managing budgets, P&L and capital investment decisions.
• The ability to engage technical and operational teams alike, building credibility from the shop floor to senior stakeholders.

What’s On Offer

This is a rare opportunity to step into a highly influential role where your technical expertise will directly shape the future capability of a growing manufacturing operation. You’ll lead significant capital investment, modernise systems and infrastructure, and position yourself for future executive leadership pathways. A highly competitive package is on offer, including base salary, superannuation and performance-based bonus.

If you would like to discuss this opportunity further you can contact Luke Del Vecchio at Blackbook Executive on 02 9030 6144.

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