Manufacturing Systems Lead

Manufacturing Systems Lead
Billingham (Home of McCoys, pombear, Wheat Crunchies, and more…)
On-site

Join our snack-loving team
We’re looking for a Manufacturing Systems Lead to join us at KP Snacks. If you’re ready to bring your ideas to the table, grow your skills and be part of a team that values what makes you, you – this could be your next big move.

Who are we?
We’re KP Snacks, part of the Intersnack family. Across more than 30 countries, over 15,000 of us work together to make the snacks people love – from Hula Hoops to McCoy’s. In the UK, we’re a team of around 2,400 colleagues, based across seven sites and our Slough HQ. We’re proud of our close-knit culture, where we speak up, celebrate differences and push boundaries together.

About the role

In this role, you'll be the subject matter expert for our manufacturing systems, ensuring they are maintained, developed and optimised to support operational excellence. You'll work closely with colleagues across Engineering, Operations, Technical, HSE and Central teams to improve data quality, increase system capability and deliver tangible reductions in waste, labour and energy losses.

As well as supporting the day-to-day health of our systems, you'll identify opportunities for improvement, lead system enhancements, support digital transformation projects and provide data-driven insights that enable better decision making. You'll also play a key role in building colleague capability through training, coaching and the development of best practice processes.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys solving problems, working with data and influencing change, while helping shape the future of manufacturing technology within KP Snacks.

What’s in it for you?
We believe in rewarding our colleagues and helping them thrive. Here’s a flavour of what we offer:

• Competitive annual salary and annual salary review

• KP Pension Plan with up to 7% matched contributions

• Annual bonus scheme

• 25 days holiday, with the option to buy up to five additional days

• Comprehensive healthcare support including Health Cash Plan, Digital GP and Employee Assistance Programme

• KP4ME benefits platform with discounts, cashback and wellbeing support

• Enhanced family-friendly policies to support colleagues at every stage of life

What will you be doing?

• Leading manufacturing systems performance
  Act as the site subject matter expert for manufacturing systems including InforMES and other associated platforms, ensuring systems remain effective, accurate and aligned to business needs

• Driving continuous improvement through data and technology
  Analyse system data to identify losses, opportunities and trends, providing recommendations that improve operational performance, productivity and efficiency across the site

• Supporting projects and digital transformation
  Lead and support the implementation of new systems, upgrades, hardware enhancements and digital roadmap initiatives while ensuring successful adoption by colleagues

• Managing system integrity and user experience
  Maintain master data, user access, site maps, documentation and business processes, while troubleshooting issues and driving sustainable solutions to prevent reoccurrence

• Building capability across the site
  Deliver training, coaching and support to colleagues, create training materials and standard operating procedures, and help embed best practice in system usage across functions

We’d love to hear from you if you can bring:

• Experience working with manufacturing systems
  Knowledge of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) or similar manufacturing, asset management or access control systems, ideally within an FMCG or manufacturing environment

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability
  Confidence working with data, identifying trends, diagnosing system issues and applying structured problem-solving techniques to drive improvements

• Excellent stakeholder management skills
  The ability to build effective relationships and influence colleagues at all levels, working collaboratively across Engineering, Operations, Technical, HSE and Central teams

• Strong technical and digital skills
  A high level of IT literacy, including Microsoft Office, alongside the capability to learn, maintain and develop complex manufacturing systems

• A continuous improvement mindset
  Experience driving change, supporting projects and identifying opportunities to improve ways of working through technology and data insight

Our purpose
At KP Snacks, we're passionate about creating happy snacking moments through our great tasting snacks and iconic brands. Every day, millions of people enjoy our products, including Hula Hoops, McCoy's, KP Nuts, Tyrrells, Skips, POM-BEAR and Butterkist, making us one of the UK's leading snack manufacturers.

For decades, we've been delighting consumers by combining well-loved favourites with exciting innovations that reflect changing tastes and expectations. We're equally passionate about our people and committed to creating a workplace where everyone can grow, develop and make a real impact.

As part of the Intersnack Group, one of the world's leading snack manufacturers, we combine global expertise with a shared commitment to creating happy snacking moments every day.

We’re committed to inclusion
We’re building a workplace where everyone belongs. If you don’t tick every box, we’d still love to hear from you – your unique perspective could be just what we need. And if there’s anything we can do to make the process easier for you, just let us know.