Managing Director

This is more than a Managing Director opportunity.It is a rare opportunity to shape the future of a highly successful, values-led food manufacturing business entering its next phase of growth.

The business has built a strong reputation for quality, innovation and customer excellence, establishing itself as a trusted partner to major retailers, foodservice operators and manufacturing customers across the UK.

With ambitious growth plans and a clear long-term vision, the organisation is seeking an exceptional Managing Director to help drive the next chapter of its journey.The business is looking for a builder.A leader who thrives on growth, enjoys developing people, and understands how to scale a business while protecting the culture, values and entrepreneurial spirit that have underpinned its success.Working closely with the CEO and Board, the Managing Director will play a pivotal role in translating ambition into action, delivering sustainable growth while ensuring the organisation remains true to its purpose and values.The OpportunityThis role requires a commercially minded and operationally astute leader capable of combining strategic vision with disciplined execution.

The successful candidate will lead the business through its next phase of growth, strengthening operational capability, driving commercial performance and building the infrastructure required to support long-term success.

The role offers significant scope to shape strategy, influence culture and leave a lasting legacy within a dynamic, founder-led organisation.What Success Looks Like

• Provide clear strategic and operational leadership, translating long-term ambitions into executable plans, measurable objectives and sustainable business outcomes.
• Lead the next phase of organisational maturity, strengthening systems, processes and infrastructure to support continued growth while protecting service levels, quality standards and profitability.
• Partner with the CEO and Board to develop and refine business strategy, ensuring decisions are commercially sound, data-driven and aligned to the organisation's values and long-term objectives.
• Build and maintain a high-performance culture that balances accountability with empowerment and development.
• Lead, inspire and develop a capable leadership team, creating strong succession plans and internal talent pipelines.
• Drive profitable growth across existing and emerging channels, customers and markets.
• Maintain oversight of business performance through effective use of financial reporting, operational metrics and commercial insight.
• Identify and deliver efficiency improvements, transformation initiatives and continuous improvement programmes.
• Lead major capital investment projects and operational expansion initiatives.
• Ensure exceptional customer service standards across all customer groups.
• Monitor market developments, consumer trends and competitive activity to identify opportunities and mitigate risks.
• Own strategic risk management, including operational, commercial, financial, regulatory and reputational risks.
• Ensure strong governance and compliance with all relevant legal, food safety, environmental and quality standards.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with customers, suppliers, industry partners, external stakeholders and the wider community.
• Support future business growth through strategic partnerships, collaboration opportunities and potential acquisition activity.

Leadership & CultureThe successful candidate will:

• Lead with authenticity, humility and integrity.
• Foster a culture of openness, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Create an environment where challenge is encouraged and diverse perspectives are valued.
• Protect and strengthen the values and culture that have driven the company's success.
• Encourage cross-functional collaboration across operations, commercial, finance, technical, supply chain, people and marketing functions.
• Act as the key integrator across the executive team, ensuring alignment behind shared goals and priorities.
• Remain visible and connected to the operational heartbeat of the business, maintaining a hands-on leadership style despite increasing scale and complexity.
• Champion employee engagement, wellbeing and development across the organisation.