Head of Production - West Midlands - £45k-£50k (depending on experience)

Part of our client’s success derives from their ultimate goal…to print things that people will fall in love with. Their service, ideas, technology and cost‑efficiency make them a supplier that is championed by exciting, discerning clients. Everything from signage, wall coverings, glass manifestation, window graphics, exhibition graphics, displays, vehicle livery, hoardings…you name it, they print it.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a Head of Production to work with big-name brands and some of the country’s most influential creative agencies.

Accountabilities

• Overall responsibility for managing production and ensuring all jobs are delivered on time and to pre‑requisite quality standards.
  • Monitor the incoming work schedule, prioritise jobs, allocate labour and determine the fitting schedule for internal and external fitters.
  • Manage the production workflow, optimise for efficiency, and supervise the production team.
  • Overall responsibility for scheduling drivers and job paths, and for utilising drivers in production when they are not driving.
  • Overall responsibility for ordering all materials for jobs.
• This role will be line manager for 15+ operators. Some of the associated responsibilities include:
  • Ensure operators are onboarded and sufficiently cross‑trained on different machinery
  • Supervise and motivate operators to do their best work
  • Advise general management on operator pay reviews
  • Advise general management on staffing gaps and lead recruitment efforts for production
  • Manage the operator holiday schedule and approve time off
  • Responsible for operator performance management and disciplinary actions where necessary
• Provide production expertise to the commercial teams and general management.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for advice on jobs to the sales team.
  • Identify general management on production bottlenecks or efficiency improvements.
  • Advise general management on new machinery requirements, and help assess new machinery.
• Misc
  • Ensure health and safety compliance within production.
  • Ensure the factory stays clean and tidy.

Experience

• 5+ years’ experience managing production is required
• 5+ years’ experience (ideally 10+) in the large format print sector is strongly preferred
• Experience managing a similarly sized team of operators is strongly preferred
• Existing knowledge of large format print machinery and file prep is strongly preferred
• Experience purchasing materials (particularly within the print industry) is a bonus, but not required
• Experience recruiting operators (particularly within the print industry) is a bonus, but not required
• Experience as a hands‑on operator (particularly within the print industry) is a bonus, but not required