JacksonGrant is partnering with an established food manufacturer in Thailand to appoint a Plant Manager with full operational accountability across its production operations. The business is at a point where ambition is outpacing structure; the next phase of growth requires someone who can move the site from heavily manual, experience-led operations into a disciplined, system-driven environment without losing the craft that built it. This is a hands-on leadership role for an operator who can hold the floor day to day while also building the standards, planning routines, and digital foundations needed to scale.
Responsibilities
- Own the end-to-end performance of the factory, covering safety, quality, output, efficiency, downtime, waste, and manufacturing cost.
- Lead daily management routines and embed operational discipline across production, maintenance, supply chain, and logistics.
- Drive continuous improvement across labour efficiency, material yield, overall equipment effectiveness, and line balancing; identify bottlenecks and implement sustainable corrective actions.
- Capture institutional manufacturing know-how through SOPs, work instructions, and structured process controls; reduce reliance on tribal knowledge and individual coordination.
- Strengthen production planning and cross-functional coordination between sales, supply chain, production, and logistics.
- Support the implementation and improvement of ERP, planning, scheduling, and manufacturing management systems; build the data, KPIs, and reporting cadence that underpin operational visibility.
- Oversee inventory accuracy, warehouse performance, and inbound and outbound flow in conjunction with procurement and planning.
- Ensure equipment reliability through preventive and predictive maintenance; support upgrades, factory improvements, and future expansion projects.
- Lead all health, safety, environmental, and food safety activities; maintain compliance with GMP, HACCP, FSSC 22000, and applicable Thai regulations, including readiness for customer and certification audits.
- Manage operating costs, monitor labour, overhead, material loss, and utilities; deliver cost-saving initiatives without compromising safety or quality.
- Build organisational capability across the factory; set clear KPIs, performance expectations, and development plans for direct reports, and develop succession within the operation.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Food Science, Industrial Management, Manufacturing, or a related discipline.
- Minimum ten years of experience in food manufacturing operations, with at least five years in a senior plant leadership or factory management role.
- Demonstrable track record managing multi-department factory operations within the food sector.
- Strong working knowledge of food safety and manufacturing compliance standards, including GMP, HACCP, and FSSC 22000.
- Proven delivery of continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives, ideally underpinned by lean manufacturing principles.
- Experience implementing or improving ERP, MES, or production planning systems; comfortable using data and KPIs to drive decisions.
- Strong capability in process mapping, workflow design, and SOP development.
- Evidence of having transitioned a factory from manual, experience-led operations into a more structured, digitally supported environment.
- Credible floor presence; the temperament to lead from inside the operation, not just from the office.
