Advanced Team Lead

Advanced Team Lead – Operations

Location: Lightbody, Hamilton

Shift: 4 on 4 off (0600-1800)

Salary: Competitive plus benefits

We are excited to be looking for a driven and proactive Advanced Team Lead (ATL) to join our Hamilton sites operations team.

135 years of craft baking skills lie behind the quality of the special branded cakes, sweet snacks and slices we produce in Hamilton, and 55 million products are produced each year. Lightbody’s is the UK’s largest supplier of celebration cakes to UK retailers, with Disney, Mars, Universal and Thorntons all within the portfolio of branded cakes made under license. We also make a variety of supermarkets’ well-loved own-label cakes and in-store bakery bites.

As an Advanced Team Lead you will have ownership of process adherence, ensuring production lines run efficiently, safely, and to the highest quality standards. This is an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about operational excellence and team leadership.

This is what you’ll actually do!

In this role, you’ll take ownership of process adherence and lead your team to deliver high-quality products safely and efficiently. Your day-to-day responsibilities will include leading and motivating your team to achieve or exceed KPIs in waste reduction, throughput, yield, and quality.

You’ll drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce process variation and embed best practices, while also managing the team skills matrix to ensure effective training, development, and succession planning. Ensuring compliance with GMP, Food Safety, Health & Safety, and site standards will be a key part of your role. You’ll champion a ‘Clean as You Go’ and safety-first culture across the bakery, support production plans and effective changeovers to meet business needs and communicate effectively at all levels while taking ownership of process targets. Additionally, you’ll deputise for the Process Manufacturing Shift Lead during periods of absence.

Accountabilities and activities specific to this role include leading by example to encourage appropriate behavioural standards in support of the company’s values and culture. You will be expected to engage, motivate, train, coach, and develop a high-performing team to meet or exceed performance targets and standards. In collaboration with the Manufacturing Shift Lead (MSL), you will review manning needs in line with the site labour budget to ensure optimum staffing levels, taking seasonal requirements into account.

Using Leader Standard Work techniques, you’ll ensure daily and weekly routines are consistently met. You’ll participate in improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing Health, Safety, and Environmental metrics through A3 methodology and the use of action teams. Active contribution to Short Interval Control meetings will help drive hourly and daily performance. You’ll use appropriate systems to raise any hazards or near misses and support accident investigations when needed.

Monitoring time and attendance of staff is a key responsibility, and with support from the MSL team, you’ll manage poor standards through the appropriate processes. You will also oversee the training of new starters on the production line to ensure training requirements are met within the expected timeframe. Supervision and evaluation of team members’ performance will help ensure safe, efficient, and effective productivity, along with adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Clear and proactive communication with your team and others across all levels of the business will be essential, using channels such as Workvivo, notices, huddles, briefs, and shift handovers. Any people issues should be promptly addressed and reported to the MSL for support in resolution.

You’ll be expected to champion a culture of Health and Safety, Food Safety, and Quality across the site, while working flexibly with the business to manage labour in response to production plan changes and support effective changeovers within the allocated time.

Finally, you will be required to cooperatively take on other duties, roles, and responsibilities as assigned by the Manufacturing Shift Lead. This is a varied role which is predominantly factory based in a fast paced environment. This role is a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow in a supportive environment.

Ideally this is you!

• Previous experience in a fast-paced food or manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of LEAN Manufacturing and continuous improvement.
• Experience leading or contributing to improvement projects.
• Confident in problem-solving using root cause analysis methodologies.
• Good knowledge of Health & Safety and Food Safety requirements.
• Experience of managing large teams and achieving set targets (KPI’s.)
• Strong organizational, analytical, and communication skills.
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to work under pressure.
• Committed to own personal development
  
  

What’s in it for you?

• Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Leave to allow quality time with your new arrival!
• Enhanced Pension Scheme for our employees
• Death in Service Benefit
• Free Employee Assistance Programme (open to colleagues and their families)
• Retail discounts accessible via our Benefits Hub platform!
• Refer a Friend Scheme (up to £300 per referral – T&C’s dependent)
• Employee Recognition Awards· Extensive Learning & Development opportunities (including opportunities for sponsored professional memberships and our own in-house development course!)
• An opportunity to be part of a fantastic, growing organisation. Head over to our LinkedIn page to find out more!
  
  

Our vision is to be the leading specialty bakery group in the UK, and we want the best people in the place to achieve this. Our continued success is built entirely on the talented people who work here, so employee development is important to us because everyone is a valued member of the team, and we want every individual to have the skills and capabilities to achieve both your own personal goals and our business goals. We want good people to join our company, to help our company continue to go from strength to strength. If this sounds like you, please get in contact to learn more!