Probe Manufacturing and Fabrication, part of Acteon Group, provides reliable, high performing turnkey solutions that are manufactured, assembled, and tested to the highest standards. At the core of our service offering, is our machining capabilities, combining state of the art equipment & our highly skilled team to provide total flexibility to develop equipment of any size and specification to meet our client's needs.
Probe are looking to source a General Manager for our Facility in Great Yarmouth, the General Manager is fully accountable for the end to end performance of the Probe business, including safety, people, operational delivery, financial performance, customer satisfaction, and sustainable growth. In addition to leading Probe day to day, the role forms part of the combined Claxton & Probe Senior Management Team, contributing to wider group strategy, growth initiatives, and cross business optimisation. The postholder will play a key role in strengthening manufacturing capability, improving efficiency, and supporting sustainable growth across the group.
Duties & Main Responsibilities
- Provide visible, engaged leadership across Probe, setting clear direction, standards, and expectations to successfully deliver the defined strategy.
- Act as the senior figurehead for the manufacturing business, role modelling company values, and leadership behaviours.
- Actively participate as a member of the Claxton & Probe Senior Management Team, contributing to group strategy, performance reviews and decision making.
- Work collaboratively with peers across Claxton and Probe to drive alignment, consistency, and best practice.
- Build and maintain a high performance culture based on accountability, trust, openness, and continuous improvement.
- Lead, coach, and develop the Probe leadership team, ensuring depth of capability and succession planning.
- Lead and embed Probe values, inclusion, engagement, and wellbeing across the business.
- Ensure effective performance management, talent development, and succession planning.
- Partner with HR to manage complex ER matters, change programmes and cultural transformation.
- Hold ultimate accountability for health, safety and environmental performance across all manufacturing and fabrication activities.
- Demonstrate visible leadership in health, safety, and environmental (HSE) matters, promoting a proactive and positive safety culture.
- Ensure robust systems, processes and leadership behaviours are in place to prevent incidents.
- Lead all manufacturing, fabrication, planning, quality, supply chain, and logistics activities.
- Deliver operational excellence across safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity.
- Implement and embed clear KPIs, operating rhythms and performance management routines.
- Optimise facility layout, workflows, labour deployment, and capacity utilisation.
- Ensure plant, equipment and facilities are effectively maintained and fit for current and future demand.
- Full responsibility for Probe's operational financial performance in line with agreed budgets and forecasts.
- Drive cost control, productivity improvements, margin enhancement and working capital discipline.
- Ensure robust forecasting, reporting and review processes are in place.
- Support tendering, pricing and commercial decision making by providing credible input on manufacturing cost, schedule, capacity, and risk.
- Develop and own investment cases to support the development of efficiency and capacity.
- Regular engage with customers at a senior level, building relationships and supporting sales activities.
- Lead operational readiness for growth, including scalability of people, systems, layout, and processes.
- Identify and deliver optimisation opportunities across cost base, throughput, quality, and asset utilisation.
- Sponsor and lead continuous improvement, Lean and standardisation initiatives.
- Actively support group wide improvement programmes, sharing lessons learned and adopting best practice from across Claxton and Probe.
- Lead change in a structured, pragmatic, and people focused manner.
- Ensure compliance with all relevant regulatory, quality, contractual and internal governance requirements.
- Maintain effective quality management systems and right first time performance.
- Ensure operational risks are identified, managed, and regularly reviewed.
Required
- Proven experience in a senior manufacturing leadership role (General Manager, Operations Manager, Site Manager or equivalent).
- Strong background in manufacturing and fabrication within an engineering or industrial environment.
- Demonstrated track record of improving operational efficiency and financial performance.
- Experience leading and developing multi disciplinary leadership teams.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, including full budget ownership.
- Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands on operational leadership.
- Authentic, visible, and credible leader.
- Strong sense of ownership and accountability.
- Pragmatic, data driven and improvement focused.
- Comfortable operating at both site and group senior leadership levels.
- Calm, resilient and decisive under pressure.
- Experience supporting business growth or operational transformation.
- Exposure to project driven or low volume / high complexity manufacturing.
- Knowledge of Lean or structured continuous improvement methodologies.
- Experience operating within a wider group or multi business environment.
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