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Manufacturing Operations Manager

Production Planning, Logistics, Procurement and Workforce Coordination

Applications remain open until the position is filled. Suitable candidates may be interviewed as applications are received.

About the Role

SachetsCo is seeking a commercially practical Manufacturing Operations Manager to control production planning, receiving, dispatch, logistics, purchasing, workforce coordination and daily factory execution. This hands-on role may suit a Production Manager, Factory Operations Manager, Supply Chain and Logistics Manager or high-performing operations all-rounder with direct manufacturing experience.

This role suits someone who predicts what will be needed, plans before pressure becomes a crisis and closes every important task. You must move between schedules, receiving, couriers, suppliers, labour, shortages and customer updates while keeping priorities and records under control.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain daily, weekly and forward production and capacity plans.
• Convert orders, trials and own-brand work into labour, ingredient, packaging, machine and timing needs.
• Coordinate with management, the Packaging Machinery Engineer and Food Technologist to align production, maintenance and formulation schedules.
• Conduct receiving checks for item, quantity, condition, batch, expiry and documents, respecting QA quarantine and release controls.
• Manage dispatch, labels, consignments, couriers, tracking, proof of delivery and freight resolution.
• Monitor and manage courier and freight cost and performance.
• Maintain inventory, reorder points, shortage warnings, purchase orders and routine buying within approved authority.
• Forecast labour, materials, storage, freight, maintenance and capacity requirements.
• Source, screen, onboard, roster and coordinate casual and temporary workers within approved settings.
• Manage attendance, timesheets and labour allocation accurately.
• Maintain professional communication with customers, suppliers, couriers and workers.
• Maintain action registers with owner, due date, status, blocker and next step for all open items.
• Coordinate facility, cleaning, safety and service requirements.
• Develop and maintain SOPs, checklists, dashboards, handovers and escalation rules.
• Track delivery performance, schedules, downtime, waste, stock accuracy, labour, freight and purchasing metrics.
• Identify bottlenecks, cost leakage, capacity limits and growth opportunities and report them with proposed options.
• Provide hands-on urgent production and dispatch support without losing planning control.

Qualifications and Experience

We value strong qualifications, but credentials alone are not enough. Exceptional directly relevant experience with measurable results may be accepted. We value people who build systems, prevent problems and improve cost, speed, quality or capacity.

• Bachelor degree in Operations Management, Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering or a related field, OR 7 or more years of directly relevant manufacturing operations leadership with measurable results.
• 5 or more years of experience in food, beverage, supplements, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, FMCG, contract packing or another controlled manufacturing environment.
• Proven production planning, receiving, warehousing, dispatch, courier management, purchasing, inventory control and labour coordination.
• Excellent professional written and spoken English.
• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets and strong general computer capability.
• Experience with ERP, MRP, inventory, CRM, project or courier systems. Zoho is desirable.
• Traceability, receiving controls, HACCP and GMP-style documentation and safety knowledge.
• Strong judgement, negotiation, follow-up and communication skills.

Additional Strengths That Stand Out

The following are not required but will strengthen your application: import and export or customs experience; inventory costing; Shopify; Xero; workflow automation and responsible AI use; recruitment and rostering; Lean or 5S; warehouse layout; OEE and capacity modelling; dashboards; supplier negotiation; experience scaling a small manufacturer.

First 90 Days

In your first 90 days you will be expected to deliver a production and capacity plan, establish receiving and dispatch controls, set reorder points, build a supplier and courier register, implement labour and roster controls, create a daily action board, produce a weekly dashboard and present a 90-day improvement plan. These are the foundation of the role, not aspirational targets.

Authority and Boundaries

Sponsorship