Production Manager

Location: Birmingham Salary: £50,000 - £55,000 + 10% Bonus Hours: Monday to Friday, Days Contract: Permanent An established manufacturing business. Significant investment. A real opportunity to make your mark. SF Recruitment are working on this opportunity with a successful, independently owned manufacturing business in Birmingham, who are looking to appoint a Production Manager as part of an exciting period of change and development. This is a business with a strong heritage, a loyal workforce, and a fantastic reputation within its sector. Having invested significantly in its facilities, machinery and infrastructure, the focus is now firmly on its people, processes, and operational performance. And that's where you come in! We're looking for a Production Manager who enjoys being visible, leading from the front and bringing out the best in people. Someone who can introduce structure, improve accountability, and drive performance, but importantly, knows how to bring an established team along with them. This isn't a role where you'll simply be maintaining the status quo. You'll have the freedom, support and autonomy to assess the operation, identify opportunities and implement improvements. The business wants someone who will take ownership, challenge existing ways of working constructively and genuinely make a difference. What will you be doing? - Taking ownership of day-to-day production operations, ensuring safety, quality, productivity, and delivery targets are achieved. - Leading, coaching and developing an established production team, including supervisors and operatives. - Introducing greater structure, accountability, and consistency across production. - Driving improvements in quality, reducing defects, waste, and rework. - Developing and monitoring production KPIs, including OEE, OTIF, efficiency and performance. - Working closely with the wider management team to improve production planning, communication, and delivery. - Identifying opportunities for continuous improvement across people, processes, and machinery. - Supporting health and safety standards, training and compliance across the operation. - Making effective use of ERP systems and production data to support decision-making. - Building a positive, engaged culture where employees understand expectations and take pride in their work. What are we looking for? First and foremost, we're looking for a people manager, not simply a production expert. You'll need to understand manufacturing, production processes, and operational performance, but your ability to lead, communicate, develop people, and drive positive change will be equally important. Ideally, you'll bring: - Experience as a Production Manager or an established manufacturing leader ready for the next step. - A proven ability to lead shop-floor teams and develop supervisors. - Strong knowledge of production KPIs, quality management, continuous improvement, and operational efficiency. - Experience improving standards, introducing processes, and creating accountability. - Confidence using ERP/MRP systems and production reporting tools. - A practical understanding of health and safety, ideally supported by IOSH or equivalent training. - A proactive, hands-on, and approachable leadership style. - The confidence to take ownership and make decisions without needing constant direction. Experience within a similar manufacturing environment would be advantageous, but industry experience is not essential. We're very open to speaking with candidates from other manufacturing backgrounds who can demonstrate the right leadership qualities and transferable experience. Why consider this opportunity? This is a genuinely exciting time to join the business. With substantial investment already made in the manufacturing operation, an established workforce and a leadership team committed to modernising the business, there is a real opportunity to influence i