Production Management Graduate

Overview

The Production Management Graduate role is an important role which will help us achieve our ambitious profit and growth targets.

apetito have seen year on year growth for over the past 15 years in sales value, volume and product ranges.

Our manufacturing unit now operates 5 days a week from Sunday night to Friday night manufacturing 1.5m units of frozen meals a week across a variety of production lines with maintenance and deep cleaning taking place on the weekend as well as between shifts. It's a fast-paced environment with several product change overs per shift.

The Production Management Graduate will gain experience of managing a manufacturing plant, process and people through a rotational development program. You will spend 12-18 months working across a variety of different departments in our Manufacturing and supply chain, for example you will work in areas such as Sweets, Meals, Procurement, Stores and NPD to gain an in-depth knowledge of our supply chain and apetito processes.

You will start your journey in either our Sweets department (where we produce a range of desserts and cakes approx. 300,000 units per week) or our Meals department (1.2 million units per week) to understand the core processes within our manufacturing operation.

From there, we will define a personal path to enable you to develop a thorough understanding of the intricacies of our apetito manufacturing operations (e.g. we have a 1,100 product portfolio, 150 suppliers, 700 different materials, etc).

The role will be challenging, stimulating and varied, with exposure to the whole manufacturing process and specific projects in each area. You need to be hands-on; lead, influence and support a varied team both in experience and competency to generate the right first time quality products safely and efficiently.

You will be working on a variety of projects focused on adding value and increasing efficiencies, dependent on the operational context. You will need to understand complex manufacturing processes and develop innovative engineering, or process solutions, to improve the performance of our manufacturing facility.

You will be logical, results focused and able to present your ideas both verbally and through written reports. The ability to influence at all levels will be essential to your success whilst working with peers to support the entire manufacturing arm of the business focusing on Safety, Quality, Delivery, Costs, Innovation and People. Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate with colleagues, from the factory floor to the exec, will be key.

We’ll provide a high challenge, high support environment where we will coach and develop you as you work alongside both previous graduates and experienced managers in this role.

You will gain experience in manufacturing principles, process flows, facility design, production equipment and refrigeration systems. There will be opportunities to learn and put in practice techniques such as lean, six sigma and PRINCE2.

Who we are

apetito is the UK’s leading food supplier to the health and social care sectors serving more than 1,300 care homes, health care and education settings.

Our meals are expertly crafted by our dietitians and chefs, and then frozen to lock in the goodness.

Wiltshire Farm Foods, our sister company, is the UK’s largest ready meal supplier cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK.

This role is part of our 2 year graduate programme, during which you will have exposure to mentoring, leadership training and support to achieve your full potential.

You will have the opportunity to present to the executive team on your work.

The aim of our programme is to train and develop graduates into future leadership roles.

Responsibilities

• Learn to lead a departmental team the apetito way with responsibility for KPI’s (e.g. right first time products), wastage and giveaway, plan attainment, line efficiency, short interval control, SMED changeovers, 5S and hygiene standards, health and safety, leading and motivating a team and communication.
• Develop your leadership skills and your ability to coordinate operational activities as your development grows and you progress through the development programme.
• Assist with NPD trials when conducted in your area/on your shift and report back to Shift manager how it went.
• Completion of several manufacturing improvement projects during the rotation across departments demonstrating improved product quality, reduction in complaints and reduction in the cost of material wastage. Previous examples of projects include SMED smart changeovers, stock accuracy and cooking capacity projects to improve overall production capacity, AI scanning and digital traceability to eliminate paperwork. The breadth of projects are endless and will be determined nearer to your start date!
• Reduce operational costs, raise quality standards and increase efficiency plus capacity using our current facility and low-cost investment items.
• Aid the achievement of the production plan reducing labour variance, material variance and overheads through a growth mindset.
• Understand all the factors affecting production costs and act as a role model, advising on and encouraging continuous improvement within the business.
• Investigate opportunities for continuous improvement and implement.

About you

Essential:

• Educated to degree level, or equivalent, preferably in Business, Engineering or Science discipline.

Adhering to principles and values:

• Upholds ethics and values.
• Encourages organisational and individual responsibility towards the community and the environment.

Leading and supervising:

• Motivates and empowers others to be the best they can be.
• Sets appropriate standards of behaviour.
• Promotes a culture where all employees are engaged and able to raise their suggestions.

Planning and organising:

• Identifies and organises resources needed to accomplish tasks.
• Monitors performance against deadlines and milestones.
• Self-motivated and able to own and manage workload with minimal supervision, a proven self-starter.

Delivering results and meeting customer expectations:

• Sets high standards for safety, quality and efficiency.
• Focuses on customer needs and satisfaction through liaison with internal and external customers.
• A completer finisher.

Creating and innovating:

• Seeks opportunities for operational improvement.

Desirable:

• Project management experience.
• Lean/6 sigma experience.
• 12 months work experience or a placement year in industry.

Deciding and initiating action:

• Makes prompt, clear decisions which may involve tough choices or considered tasks.
• Takes responsibility for actions, projects and people.

You will work a mix of shift patterns (6am-2pm or 2-10pm and occasionally 10pm-6am) in order to understand the complexities of our environment e.g. staff, material flows and capacity constraints.

Company Benefits

• Competitive salary – accredited Living Wage employer.
• 25 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays.
• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days holiday per year.
• Discretionary annual bonus scheme.
• Pension scheme - employer matched contributions up to 4%.
• Life assurance scheme worth at least 1x annual salary.
• Subsidised canteen.
• Free parking.
• Free turkey or voucher at Christmas.
• apetito perks scheme including salary sacrifice options and retail discounts.

Our Values

As a family-owned business, we take great pride in being a company that makes a real difference and is dedicated to creating outstanding meals to be proud of.

We develop a range of products designed to enhance health and well-being for all our customers.

We are driven by a passion for service and dedicated to feeding some of the UK’s most vulnerable people.

We proudly support British food and farming, focusing on using the best ethical and sustainable produce in alignment with our goal to reach Net Zero by 2040.

Our ethical standards are recognised by the ETI and we are an accredited Living Wage employer. Learn more about apetito’s commitment to a more sustainable future.

We embrace inclusion, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Our commitment to making a real difference extends to customers, communities, and staff and we're on a mission to build an inclusive workplace where everyone reaches their full potential.