Posted: 9h ago
The role
BackgroundAurivo Dairy Ingredients, located in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon processes over 75% of Aurivo's 550 million litre milk pool annually. With capacity and the appetite to process significant volumes of external milk from other processors. This facility has a simple goal “to turn our farmers milk into money as efficiently as possible” – the successful candidate will work closely with other members of the Dairy Senior Leadership team; namely Financial, Farm Services, Commercial, Operational and Technical Leads in developing innovative added value products, reducing operating costs and maximising product sales prices. A capital intensive but well invested site with over €60 million of capital expenditure in the last eight years, the site looks forward to delivering many more cost and energy beneficial projects such as a Solar Farm in 2026 and a Biomass Boiler in 2027 enabling Aurivo to achieve the governments 2030 emissions targets, three years early. This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious individual who really wants to make a difference in their career and lead Aurivo into delivering higher returning, value‑added products to our portfolio.Reporting ToGeneral Manager, Dairy Business UnitRole PurposeThe Site Lead is the most senior operational leader on the Ballaghaderreen site, with full cost accountability and end‑to‑end responsibility for site performance. This role leads all people, manufacturing, environmental, quality, safety, projects, cost and delivery outcomes, while managing operations within a unionised environment and ensuring strong industrial relations, employee engagement and compliance. The role is accountable for translating the Aurivo Dairy Ingredients strategy into site‑level execution, delivering financial and operational targets and leading a high‑performing, values‑led culture.Key AccountabilitiesCost AccountabilityHold full cost accountability for the site, including labour, overheads, operational costs, productivity and efficiency performance.Own the site budget, forecasting, and cost‑control agenda, ensuring delivery against financial targets.Drive margin improvement through operational excellence, waste reduction, energy, yield optimisation and labour efficiency.Work closely with the leads from other disciplines to support accurate reporting, business planning and decision‑making.Strategic and Operational LeadershipProvide overall leadership and direction for all manufacturing operations, ensuring delivery against KPIs for Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, People, Environmental, Projects and Sustainability.Translate group strategy into a clear site operating plan with defined priorities, milestones and performance measures.Lead daily, weekly and monthly performance governance routines to manage risk, performance and continuous improvement.Ensure the site remains audit‑ready at all times, meeting regulatory, customer and Aurivo standards.People LeadershipLead and develop the full site leadership and management team, ensuring strong accountability, capability development and succession planning.Operate effectively within a unionised environment, maintaining constructive relationships with employee representatives and ensuring compliance with collective agreements.Partner closely with HR to manage industrial relations matters, workforce planning, rosters, absenteeism, discipline and employee engagement.Lead change initiatives in a structured and inclusive way, ensuring appropriate consultation, communication and engagement with unions and team members.Health & Safety, Environmental, Quality and ComplianceHold ultimate accountability for Health & Safety and Environmental performance on site driving a proactive safety culture.Ensure best‑in‑class food safety and quality performance, maintaining customer confidence and regulatory compliance.Continuous Improvement and Change LeadershipLead and sponsor Lean, CI and operational excellence initiatives to drive productivity, cost reduction and operational resilience.Oversee major site change programmes including capital investment, system implementations and organisational change.Embed data‑driven decision‑making and continuous performance improvement across the site.Stakeholder and Group LeadershipAct as the senior site representative within the Aurivo Dairy Ingredients leadership team.Build strong internal partnerships with across all Aurivo shared service and commercial functions.Represent the site with external stakeholders including auditors, regulators, customers and industry bodies as required.EssentialExperience and QualificationsEffective leader with proven experience of developing and mentoring teams to achieve ambitious results.Significant senior dairy processing / food ingredients manufacturing leadership experience with strong commercial acumen.Proven experience leading operations in a manufacturing environment.Strong track record of delivering financial, operational and people performance, with a value‑add, continuous improvement mindset.Deep knowledge of food safety, quality systems and regulatory compliance.Understands the vital importance of mechanical/electrical engineering to our site running optimally.DesirableDegree or equivalent in Engineering, Food Science, Ag Science, Manufacturing, Operations or related discipline.Lean / CI / Operational Excellence expertise.Leadership ProfileCommercially astute, decisive and accountable.Credible senior leader with strong presence and influence.Values‑led and people‑focused, with the resilience to lead complex operations.Strong communicator who builds trust, manages change effectively and drives alignment.CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY 15TH MAY 2026
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