Job Title: Site General Manager

Location: Essex

Salary: Up to £100,000 per annum + 10% bonus + car allowance

Job Overview

The Site General Manager will lead all operational activity at a high-performing Aseptic manufacturing facility. This senior leadership role requires a decisive and results-driven leader who can deliver operational excellence while maintaining rigorous standards of safety, quality, and regulatory compliance.

The role involves overseeing day-to-day operations in Production, Warehouse and Quality. The role is responsible for aligning site objectives with broader business strategy. The successful candidate will operate with autonomy, ensuring strong operational and financial performance while implementing sustainable improvements in productivity, quality, and organisational capability. The role will be onsite five days per week during the first six months to embed leadership, build relationships, and gain full operational oversight.

Key Responsibilities & Focus Areas

• Take accountability for all site operations, ensuring efficiency, productivity, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Lead and develop high-performing teams, setting clear expectations and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Develop and implement operational strategies to achieve production, financial, and business objectives.
• Drive productivity improvements and embed sustainable operational change, using data and operational insight to reduce operational costs.
• Strengthen leadership capability and optimise organisational structure to support current and future business needs.
• Ensure consistent performance management across all teams and maintain high standards of behaviour and discipline.
• Raise quality standards through compliance, ownership, and behavioural expectations.
• Own budgets, cost optimisation, and ROI-focused business improvement initiatives.
• Analyse operational metrics and KPIs to guide decisions, implement corrective actions, and continuously improve site performance.
• Plan capacity and resources to meet current and future demand effectively.
• Ensure readiness for regulatory audits and inspections as a Site Licence Holder.
• Build strong, professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support operational success.
• Proactively seek opportunities to learn, broaden knowledge, and expand skillset to strengthen site performance and personal leadership impact.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Minimum 15 years’ experience in manufacturing leadership or site management, with a proven track record of success in a similar role, ideally within a highly regulated industry such as pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Extensive experience leading fast-paced manufacturing operations, with a strong focus on delivering results and operational improvements.
• Strong financial acumen, including ownership of budgets, business improvement projects, and ROI-focused initiatives.
• Expertise in highly regulated environments, including regulatory inspections and audit readiness.
• Hands-on, analytical, and detail-oriented, using KPIs and data to diagnose challenges and implement sustainable improvements.
• Experience in talent development, succession planning, and strengthening leadership capability.
• Familiarity with continuous improvement methodologies (Green Belt or above preferred) and structured project management.
• Strong communication and influencing skills across all levels.
• Proactive in learning, self-development, and applying new insights to improve operations and leadership effectiveness.

Leadership Style

Leadership is decisive and outcomes-focused, combining sound judgement and structured decision-making to drive sustainable site performance. Operational, quality, and financial metrics are closely monitored, and insight is used to drive improvement initiatives and optimise site performance.

A hands-on approach is essential, setting clear expectations, following through on actions, and maintaining accountability across all levels. The role requires the ability to challenge the status quo, embed change effectively, and balance operational involvement with strategic oversight to deliver consistent, measurable results.

Don't meet every single requirement? At Realise, we are dedicated to helping our clients build diverse, inclusive and authentic workplaces, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement, we would encourage you to apply anyway! You might just be the candidate we're looking for! Realise HR Ltd is operating as a recruitment agency on behalf of its clients. We may keep your CV on file for the purposes of providing recruitment services and in accordance with our privacy policy which can be found on our website www.realisehr.co.uk.