Assistant Plant Manager - Poultry

The Opportunity

We are recruiting on behalf of a leading poultry manufacturer for an experienced Assistant Plant Manager to join a high-volume fresh poultry processing facility.

This is a key leadership position responsible for supporting all aspects of plant operations while driving safety, food safety, operational performance, and employee engagement. Working alongside the Plant Manager, you will help lead a cross-functional team to deliver production goals, improve operational efficiency, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

This role is ideal for an experienced Operations Manager, Production Manager, or Assistant Plant Manager looking to take the next step within a large-scale protein manufacturing environment.

The Role

As Assistant Plant Manager, you will provide day-to-day operational leadership across the facility, ensuring production targets are achieved safely, efficiently, and in compliance with all regulatory, customer, and company standards.

You will partner closely with Production, FSQA, Maintenance, Human Resources, Safety, Live Operations, and Supply Chain teams to optimise plant performance while developing future leaders and supporting long-term business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Support the overall management of daily plant operations across processing, packaging, and distribution.
• Drive operational performance by improving productivity, yield, labour efficiency, and throughput.
• Ensure production schedules are executed effectively while meeting customer service expectations.
• Partner with department managers to resolve operational challenges and remove barriers to performance.

Food Safety & Quality

• Champion a strong food safety and quality culture throughout the facility.
• Ensure compliance with HACCP, GMPs, USDA regulations, and customer requirements.
• Support successful customer, third-party, and regulatory audits.
• Work closely with the FSQA team to maintain product integrity and regulatory compliance.

Safety & Compliance

• Promote a culture where employee health and safety is the highest priority.
• Ensure compliance with all health, safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead incident investigations and implement corrective actions where required.
• Drive employee engagement in behavioural safety and continuous improvement initiatives.

Financial & Operational Performance

• Support the Plant Manager in delivering operational budgets and financial objectives.
• Monitor key operational KPIs, including labour, yield, downtime, waste, OEE, and production efficiencies.
• Identify opportunities to reduce operating costs while maintaining safety, quality, and customer service.
• Assist with capital improvement projects and operational investment initiatives.

Leadership & People Development

• Lead, coach, and develop department managers, supervisors, and frontline leaders.
• Foster a high-performance culture built on accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Support succession planning and talent development across the operation.
• Build strong working relationships across all functional departments.

Continuous Improvement

• Drive Lean Manufacturing and operational excellence initiatives throughout the facility.
• Support process improvement projects that enhance productivity, quality, and employee engagement.
• Use operational data and performance metrics to identify trends and implement sustainable improvements.

About You

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Food Science, Operations Management, or a related field preferred.
• 7+ years of progressive leadership experience within poultry, meat, protein, or food manufacturing.
• Previous experience as an Operations Manager, Production Manager, Senior Production Manager, or Assistant Plant Manager.
• Strong understanding of fresh poultry processing operations and high-volume manufacturing environments.
• Working knowledge of USDA regulations, HACCP, GMPs, food safety systems, and operational compliance.
• Demonstrated success leading large teams and delivering measurable operational improvements.
• Excellent leadership, communication, organisational, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience implementing Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Excellence initiatives is highly desirable.