Production Shift Manager (Advanced Materials)

Location: UK - Duxford; three-shift pattern across five days per week.

Company

hirify.global is an industry-leading, people-oriented manufacturing company operating an Advanced Materials site with a focus on safety, ethics, innovation, and continuous improvement.

What you will do

• Lead and coach a production shift team of 12 direct reports plus up to 3 temporary employees.
• Deliver scheduled production output while balancing safety, quality, and operational performance.
• Drive Zero Harm practices, investigate near misses and incidents, and act as Site Incident Controller outside normal hours.
• Coordinate shop-floor operations and collaborate with Engineering, Maintenance, Planning, Warehouse, Quality, and other site functions.
• Implement continuous improvement initiatives, including working-method improvements and CAPEX projects.
• Manage training, induction, performance, workforce flexibility, 5S standards, and shift-team development.

Requirements

• Strong experience managing or supervising a medium-to-large team in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience in process or equivalent manufacturing, with the ability to balance safety, quality, and production requirements.
• Technical qualification in Chemistry, Engineering, or equivalent experience; A-Level or HND equivalent qualifications are preferred.
• Strong leadership, people-management, communication, decision-making, and relationship-building skills.
• Demonstrated experience implementing continuous improvement or operational change and using performance data and metrics.
• Knowledge of process management systems such as SAP and strong general IT skills.

Nice to have

• Chemical-sector manufacturing experience.
• Experience with Lean tools such as VSM, SMED, or Kaizen.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive salary, a guaranteed annual payment of 4% paid annually in November, and eligibility for a corporate incentive bonus after the qualifying period.
• Pension contribution of up to 12%, with a 5% employee contribution and other options available.
• Private medical insurance, Employee Assistance Programme, and enhanced family-friendly benefits.
• 25 days of holiday plus bank holidays, an additional birthday day off, and long-service leave.
• Company-funded training, access to over 10,000 online learning courses, Cycle to Work and discounted gym schemes, and free onsite parking.
• Collaborative and inclusive working environment focused on safety, innovation, and continuous improvement.