National Operations Manager - Manufacturing

Job Description

Up to $200k pkg | | Australian manufacturer | Global backing | Building an operational excellence centre | Part of SLT | COGS and profitability focus

• $200k pkg inc Super, Arndell Park | Strong autonomy & influence on profitability
• National remit across Production, Supply Chain, Warehousing, Quality, and Safety
• Highly experienced teams | Focus on COGS, efficiency, and leadership uplift

The Company

This Australian manufacturing business has been operating locally for nearly 40 years and is part of a large, globally respected group with more than 100 years of history.

The Australian business is performing strongly and continues to invest in people, systems, and production capability across Australia and APAC. It operates with the backing, scale, and strategic direction of a global group, while retaining local decision-making and accountability.

A defining feature of the business is its people. There is a highly experienced operations workforce with long tenure, deep process knowledge, and pride in how things are done. The leadership team values that knowledge and is committed to retaining it, while continuing to lift efficiency, consistency, and profitability through smarter operations.

This is a business that understands that sustainable improvement comes from trust, credibility, and alignment, not from forcing change for the sake of it.

The Role

Reporting directly to the Managing Director Australia and with guidance and support from the Sydney based Head of Operations APAC. This is a newly created senior, hands-on Operations leadership role for a manufacturing business with national responsibility.

It’s a new role as the APAC Head is going to be more focused on Regional strategy and operations of their other offshore manufacturing site.

The purpose of the role is not to “turn around” a broken operation. It is to build a centre of operational excellence, lift consistency across sites, reduce COGS, and strengthen leadership capability within an already experienced team.

A key expectation is that you will spend time in the operation, working alongside long-standing department heads and teams to build credibility and respect. The current Head of Operations has been clear: if the team does not respect the leader, change does not stick.

Your success will come from bringing people with you, ensuring they are bought into improvements, and developing their leadership capability so you can progressively focus more on the key drivers of profitability and performance.

Your scope will include manufacturing, supply chain, warehousing, maintenance, procurement, quality, safety, and operational finance, with responsibility for delivering the global strategy locally while adapting it intelligently to the Australian environment.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading national operations with a focus on safety, quality, service, and cost
• Developing and executing operational strategies that reduce COGS and improve efficiency while coaching and developing experienced department leaders to lift consistency and accountability
• Embedding continuous improvement, lean thinking, and operational excellence initiatives, and ensuring strong engagement and buy-in from teams so changes are sustained over time
• Working closely with Finance to translate operational performance into commercial outcomes, you’ll have a Finance Operation Business Partner in your team
• Driving Operations standardisation, best practice, and capability uplift across the Australian branches without losing local knowledge and partnering with the MD and APAC stakeholders on strategy, projects, and long-term planning

About You

To be successful in this role you will need:

• Senior operations leadership experience within manufacturing or industrial products environments – manufacturing experience is essential
• An engineering or strong technical background that gives you credibility on the production floor
• A proven track record of reducing COGS, improving efficiency, and lifting operational discipline
• A leadership style focused on developing people, not displacing long-tenured expertise – demonstrated with examples
• Strong influencing, change leadership, and stakeholder management capability in complex organisations

Benefits

• Up to $201k package including Super
• Senior leadership role with genuine influence over national operations and profitability
• Australian manufacturing environment with the backing and scale of a large global group
• Highly experienced teams who value strong, credible leadership
• Opportunity to build and lead a centre of operational excellence
• Competitive executive-level salary package aligned to experience
• Long-term career opportunity within a stable, growing manufacturing business
• Direct access to the Managing Director and senior leadership team
• Exposure to APAC and global operational projects
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) available to all staff
• Supportive, people-focused culture with a strong emphasis on safety and quality

If this sounds like you or someone you know please click APPLY or send them this link.

For a confidential discussion about this role or if you have queries on your potential suitability for this role, please call Ross Chandler on 0488810334 or email me:

ross@norwestrecruitment.com.au

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, and genetic information.