Production Manager
Location: Cricklade (Swindon area)
Package: Basic Salary up to £45,000 (dependent on experience) + Bonus
Hours: 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday 9:00am–5:00pm
Sector: Corrugated Packaging Design & Manufacturing

The Company
GWP Group / Macfarlane Packaging, one of the UK's leading packaging manufacturers, are looking for a Production Manager to join our established team. You will become part of a business established for over 75 years, with a strong history of distributing and producing sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging. Being part of Macfarlane PLC (the UK's largest packaging distributor) GWP Packaging offer stability along with continual growth that will offer opportunities for personal and professional development.

The Role
The Production Manager is responsible for leading all manufacturing operations at the site, ensuring efficient, safe, and high-quality production in line with business objectives and customer requirements.
This role provides leadership across multi-shift operations, driving performance, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement while developing a high-performing production team.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all production activities to ensure output targets, quality standards, and delivery schedules are consistently achieved.
• Drive operational efficiency and continuous improvement across all manufacturing processes.
• Take ownership of production planning execution, ensuring resources are effectively allocated to meet business demands.
• Develop, coach, and lead production teams, fostering a culture of accountability, engagement, and high performance.
• Ensure full compliance with health, safety, and quality standards across all operations.
• Monitor and manage performance against KPIs, implementing corrective actions where required.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure effective communication, planning, and problem resolution.
• Contribute to the overall operational strategy, supporting business growth and continuous improvement initiatives.

About You
We are looking for a confident and experienced Production Manager with a strong background in manufacturing environments, ideally within the packaging sector.
You will be a natural leader, capable of managing and developing teams while maintaining a clear focus on performance, quality, and continuous improvement.

Key skills and experience include:

Essential

• Proven experience managing production within a manufacturing environment
• Corrugated packaging manufacturing experience
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to engage, develop, and motivate teams
• A structured and proactive approach to managing performance and driving efficiency
• Experience working with production planning systems and KPI reporting
• A practical understanding of health & safety and quality requirements in manufacturing
• Strong communication and organisational skills
• A forward-thinking mindset with the ability to contribute to operational improvements

Desirable

• IOSH or Nebosh health & safety qualification
• Lean manufacturing knowledge (Six Sigma, Kaizen, etc.)
• Leadership or management qualification (ILM, CMI or similar)

Our Benefits
We provide a competitive basic starting salary and operate a rewarding bonus scheme.
The flexible employee benefits can include: -

• 23 days annual leave plus all public / bank holidays
• Long service awards (10-40 years)
• Contributory pension scheme
• Free on-site parking
• Employee assistance programme to support and advise with well-being and any issues

Next Steps/How to Apply
We are working swiftly to find the best applicants and hope to hold local interviews ASAP. Please click ‘apply’ to submit your up-to-date CV. All applications will be acknowledged. If you haven’t heard from us within two weeks, please assume your application was unsuccessful.

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds irrespective of your age, gender, disability, race, nationality, ethnicity, gender expression, religion or sexual orientation. Should you require any specific support or adjustments during the recruitment process, please email our recruitment team directly.

No recruitment agencies please