Quality Operations Manager
Kent, UK
About the Company
An established and rapidly growing UK manufacturer within the health, wellness, and consumer products sector is seeking a Quality Operations Manager to support the next phase of its growth journey.
The business manufactures a broad portfolio of products for leading brands and retailers and operates to high industry standards, including GMP, BRC, ISO, and retailer compliance requirements.
Following significant recent investment and expansion plans, the company is looking to strengthen its operational quality leadership team.
The Opportunity
This is a highly visible leadership role focused on driving operational quality excellence across a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Reporting into the Operations Director, you will lead the quality function from a factory and operations perspective, ensuring quality is embedded throughout manufacturing processes rather than solely driven by compliance and audit requirements.
You will play a key role in improving GMP standards, strengthening quality culture, reducing recurring deviations, and supporting operational readiness as the business continues to scale.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead operational quality standards across manufacturing operations
- Drive GMP compliance and quality ownership throughout the factory
- Manage investigations, deviations, product holds, and release decisions
- Improve root cause analysis (RCA) and CAPA effectiveness
- Lead and develop QA and hygiene teams
- Collaborate closely with Production, Engineering, Technical, and Planning functions
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives and right-first-time manufacturing performance
- Support manufacturing expansion and operational scale-up projects
- Ensure hygiene, environmental, and contamination control standards are maintained
Candidate Profile
We are looking for individuals with:
- Operational quality leadership experience within food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, or FMCG manufacturing
- Strong GMP knowledge and factory-based quality experience
- Experience managing QA teams and developing quality culture
- Proven experience with RCA, CAPA, investigations, and deviation management
- Exposure to BRC, retailer audits, and manufacturing compliance standards
- Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional leadership skills
Ideal Attributes
- Highly operational and hands-on
- Comfortable working on the factory floor
- Pragmatic and solutions-focused
- Strong communicator and people leader
- Commercially aware with a continuous improvement mindset
- Able to challenge constructively and drive accountability
If you have a background in operational quality leadership and enjoy driving quality improvements within a manufacturing environment, we’d love to hear from you.
Due to the high volume of applications, we cannot guarantee a response with tailored feedback.
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