The Company Our client is a market leading agricultural manufacturing business seeking a highly motivated and experienced General Manager Processing to lead and manage all aspects of Manufacturing, Maintenance, Capital Engineering, raw material procurement and Warehousing/Logistics. As a key member of our leadership team, you will focus on compliance, continuous improvement, and Workplace Health & Safety, driving best practices to optimize operational performance, safety, and product quality. Your leadership will also empower and support the entire business through a further exciting growth phase. The Role Reporting to the CEO your role will be responsible for: Develop and implement strategies to scale operations in line with company growth, empowering and supporting direct reports to meet operational demands. Anticipate future needs and develop plans to address growing site installation projects. Lead, motivate, and engage teams across manufacturing, engineering, and procurement to achieve individual, team, and site objectives. Foster a culture of business improvement and accountability to ensure continuous results and performance enhancement. Implement leadership development programs to build a strong succession pipeline for long-term leadership stability. Promote a safety-first culture across the site, ensuring that WH&S processes are in place, including induction, training, and safety programs. Drive excellence in safety performance, risk awareness, and compliance with safety regulations. Ensure that operational systems support the maintenance of BRC and other GMP standards. Regularly review and improve operational processes to maintain high-quality standards and compliance. Develop, track, and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) including labour optimization, overtime, OEE, throughput rates, and inventory. Address performance gaps by implementing corrective actions to drive continuous improvement and operational efficiency. Serve as the main point of contact for high-level client interactions, addressing operational concerns and ensuring prompt, clear communication. Manage supplier relationships. Your Background In order to be successful in this role you will have: Operations leadership experience, responsible for leading manufacturing teams in a food / agricultural manufacturing environment. Degree qualified Engineer or senior level manufacturing operations leadership experience – Ideally 5-10 years at Site Manager level. Proven experience in developing and building strong leadership groups within a manufacturing plant leading to positive change. Must have the ability and track record of delivering the longer-term strategic vision. Experience working with engineering and being either involved from an Operations perspective on the delivery of large capital projects, ideally those that have included automated warehousing equipment & processes. Strong continuous improvement background with a good grasp of sophisticated continuous improvement methodologies such as LEAN / Six Sigma and 5Y problem-solving tools. Good commercial acumen, able to understand and manage finances / P&L with the ability to identify the key cost drivers in a fast-paced manufacturing plant. Strong communication, coaching, consultation and negotiation skills with an ability to engage and influence internal stakeholders. What’s On Offer This is a rare opportunity to step into a pivotal leadership role within a market-leading business poised for continued growth. You’ll be empowered to shape operational strategy, deliver real impact, and position yourself for future executive-level opportunities. An attractive salary package is on offer, including base salary, superannuation, and performance-based bonus. If you would like to discuss this opportunity further you can contact Maurice Tranchina at Blackbook Executive on 03 9823 7413.
