Production Manager
Production Manager – Bespoke Manufacturing
Location: Glossop, Derbyshire
Salary: £60,000–£75,000 per annum, dependent on experience
Job type: Permanent, full\-time
About Hetherington Newman
Hetherington Newman designs and manufactures exceptional bespoke furniture and architectural joinery for private residential projects throughout the UK and internationally.
Our work includes individually designed kitchens, dressing rooms, libraries, studies, media rooms, architectural joinery and fitted furniture. Every project is different and is manufactured to exacting standards at our factory in Glossop.
We are now looking for an experienced Production Manager to take full operational responsibility for our manufacturing facility and lead a team of approximately 18–25 people.
The role
This is a senior, hands\-on management position for someone who can bring structure, accountability and consistent leadership to a busy manufacturing environment.
You do not necessarily need a background in bespoke joinery. We are open to candidates from other high\-quality manufacturing sectors who can demonstrate a strong record of managing people, planning production, improving processes and achieving measurable results.
The successful candidate will take ownership of the complete production operation—from the release of technical information and materials into manufacture through to quality control, packing and dispatch.
You will be responsible for ensuring that people know what is expected of them, production is properly planned, problems are identified early and agreed targets are achieved.
This role requires a visible and proactive manager who is comfortable spending time on the factory floor while maintaining control of the overall manufacturing programme.
Key responsibilitiesProduction planning and delivery
- Take full ownership of the manufacturing schedule and ensure it remains accurate, achievable and up to date.
- Plan production backwards from agreed delivery and installation dates.
- Translate the manufacturing programme into clear daily and weekly priorities.
- Coordinate workflow across machining, bench assembly, preparation, spray finishing, quality control, packing and dispatch.
- Plan labour, capacity and resources across multiple live projects.
- Allocate work according to employee skills, experience and production requirements.
- Monitor progress throughout each day and intervene promptly when work falls behind.
- Identify production risks, bottlenecks and capacity constraints before they affect delivery.
- Ensure projects are completed within their allocated manufacturing hours.
- Work closely with Design, CAD, Project Management, Purchasing and Installation to maintain the flow of accurate information and materials.
- Ensure missing drawings, technical queries, materials and client decisions are escalated and resolved promptly.
- Manage changing priorities without losing control of other project commitments.
- Lead, manage and develop a production team of approximately 18–25 people.
- Set clear expectations for performance, productivity, workmanship, behaviour and accountability.
- Hold effective daily production meetings and communicate priorities clearly.
- Set individual, departmental and factory\-wide objectives.
- Ensure employees understand their responsibilities, deadlines and expected outputs.
- Monitor performance against agreed targets and follow up commitments consistently.
- Recognise strong performance and address underperformance promptly and fairly.
- Conduct appraisals, performance reviews and documented improvement discussions.
- Manage absence, holidays and contingency cover to protect production.
- Support recruitment, induction, training and development of production employees.
- Create a culture in which employees take responsibility for the quality and efficiency of their work.
- Build an effective management structure through supervisors and chargehands rather than personally becoming absorbed in production tasks.
- Establish and manage meaningful production KPIs.
- Set measurable targets for individuals, departments and the overall factory.
- Track planned manufacturing hours against actual hours.
- Monitor output, productivity, labour utilisation and non\-productive time.
- Investigate significant variances and implement corrective action.
- Measure and reduce rework, remakes, defects, damage and material waste.
- Monitor delivery performance against agreed production and installation dates.
- Produce concise weekly reports covering performance, capacity, risks and required actions.
- Use accurate production data to support decisions and drive accountability.
- Report regularly to the senior management team and escalate significant concerns at an early stage.
- Production completed on time.
- Estimated manufacturing hours versus actual hours.
- Labour productivity and utilisation.
- Rework and remake hours.
- Quality defects and snagging.
- Material waste.
- Departmental output.
- Unplanned overtime.
- Absence and training requirements.
- Continuous\-improvement actions completed.
- Maintain the exceptional quality standards expected of a premium bespoke manufacturer.
- Establish clear quality\-control checks throughout the production process.
- Ensure problems are identified at the earliest possible stage rather than at final inspection.
- Confirm that completed work has been fully checked, signed off, protected, labelled and made ready for delivery.
- Ensure employees understand that quality is their responsibility at every stage.
- Investigate recurring faults and implement permanent corrective measures.
- Work with project and installation teams to review defects, site issues and customer feedback.
- Lead production post\-mortems and ensure agreed lessons are turned into practical improvements.
- Review existing processes and identify opportunities to improve workflow, productivity and communication.
- Introduce practical systems that make responsibilities, priorities and progress clearly visible.
- Standardise effective working methods while recognising the individual nature of bespoke projects.
- Reduce waiting time, unnecessary movement, duplicated activity and avoidable production delays.
- Improve factory layout, material flow, storage and workplace organisation.
- Develop structured training and cross\-training plans to improve flexibility and resilience.
- Identify skills gaps and support workforce and succession planning.
- Engage employees in solving problems and improving the way work is produced.
- Ensure improvements are implemented, measured and maintained.
- Maintain a well\-organised, professional and efficient factory environment.
- Ensure suitable care, identification, storage and protection of materials and completed work.
- Coordinate machinery maintenance, servicing and breakdown response.
- Ensure equipment is used correctly and remains fit for purpose.
- Maintain high standards of housekeeping throughout the facility.
- Work closely with purchasing and stores to ensure materials are available when required.
- Ensure strict compliance with health and safety policies, procedures and legislation.
- Promote safe working practices and address unsafe behaviour immediately.
We are looking for a proven manufacturing leader with the organisational ability, authority and determination to take control of a complex production environment.
You will need:
- Significant experience managing a production or manufacturing operation.
- Experience leading and holding accountable a team of approximately 18–25 people or more.
- A demonstrable record of planning production and delivering work to agreed deadlines.
- Experience establishing KPIs, setting targets and managing performance against them.
- Strong organisational, scheduling and prioritisation skills.
- The confidence to challenge missed commitments and poor performance constructively.
- Experience using manufacturing data to identify problems and improve results.
- A practical understanding of production flow, capacity planning and resource allocation.
- Experience implementing continuous\-improvement initiatives.
- Strong problem\-solving and decision\-making skills.
- The ability to communicate clearly with employees, supervisors and senior management.
- Confidence using digital production schedules, reporting tools and management systems.
- High standards of quality, organisation and professional conduct.
- The ability to remain calm and decisive in a demanding, changing environment.
- A management style that combines support and development with clear accountability.
Experience in any of the following would be advantageous:
- Bespoke furniture or architectural joinery.
- Kitchens, cabinetry or fitted furniture.
- High\-quality, low\-volume manufacturing.
- Made\-to\-order or engineer\-to\-order production.
- Woodworking, interiors or construction\-related manufacturing.
- Lean manufacturing or other structured continuous\-improvement methods.
- Introducing or developing production\-management systems.
- Managing machining, assembly, finishing and dispatch operations.
What success will look like
Within the first six months, the successful candidate will be expected to:
- Take clear ownership of the manufacturing programme.
- Establish daily and weekly production\-management routines.
- Give every department and employee clear priorities and targets.
- Provide management with accurate visibility of progress, capacity and risk.
This listing is from Indeed. View original listing ↗