Production Manager

This is a transformational key role within an established and highly respected engineering organisation, offering the opportunity to join its operations team at a state-of-the-art facility in Southampton. With over 50 years of innovation, the company has consistently led its industry through the design and manufacture of cutting-edge technology, supplying a global customer base and setting the benchmark for quality and performance. You will have the opportunity to make a significant and lasting impact on production capabilities by taking ownership of multiple production lines and driving performance, efficiency, and continuous improvement in a fast-paced, high-energy manufacturing environment. With full accountability for operational delivery, you will play a central role in shaping the future direction of production, ensuring capacity, quality and output align with ambitious growth plans. Experience within fibre optics, photonics or laser-based technologies would be an advantage, although this is not essential. You will need to demonstrate a proven track record in operations and production management, with a strong understanding of lean manufacturing principles and the ability to successfully oversee multiple production lines within a high-tech engineering environment. Providing strong operational leadership, you will develop and coach teams to achieve excellence while fostering a culture of safety, accountability and innovation. Working closely with cross-functional stakeholders across engineering, supply chain and wider business functions, you will help deliver strategic objectives, support new product introduction and enhance overall operational performance. This opportunity is ideally suited to a driven and forward-thinking manufacturing professional with a proven track record in production management within a lean environment. You will bring strong leadership capability, a proactive mindset and the ability to influence at all levels, alongside a passion for continuous improvement and delivering results in a dynamic setting. Requirements: Broad knowledge of the entire operations chain with a minimum of three years manufacturing experience Experience working with a wide range of stakeholders, including finance, procurement and engineering/design Experience using ERP systems such as SAP TPBN1_UKTJ

Created: 2026-04-01