Shift Manager (Production)

Shift Manager (Production)

Salary: £54,000 – £59,000 plus shift premium

Location: Coventry, West Midlands

Contract: Permanent, shift pattern

A well-invested automotive supply chain manufacturer in Coventry is looking for a Shift Manager to run a full production shift with real autonomy. You'll be the senior leader on site during your shift, responsible for safety, quality, delivery and cost. It's a great opportunity for an experienced shift leader who wants to make a visible difference in a high-volume environment, with a clear path to Production Manager.

The role

• Take full ownership of safety, quality, delivery and cost performance on your shift, acting as the senior leader on site and the person the business relies on to make the right call.
• Lead and develop 3–4 Supervisors and a workforce of 40+ operators, setting clear expectations, holding people to account and recognising good performance.
• Deliver the daily production plan, adjusting resources, priorities and line allocation as needed to protect output and customer delivery.
• Work closely with Maintenance and Engineering to resolve breakdowns quickly, minimise downtime and put lasting fixes in place rather than temporary workarounds.
• Report on shift KPIs, including output, scrap, downtime and safety, and lead the daily performance meetings that turn those numbers into clear actions.
• Run effective shift handovers so that issues, priorities and customer requirements carry smoothly from one shift to the next.
• Champion continuous improvement on your shift, encouraging ideas from the floor and driving structured problem solving through to results.
• Build and sustain a strong, proactive safety culture where near misses are reported, risks are challenged and standards are never compromised.
• Coach and develop your Supervisors, building their capability and confidence so that you have a motivated, high-performing team behind you.
• Act as the first point of escalation for people, quality and operational issues during your shift, keeping senior management informed.
• Support audits, customer visits and quality standards, making sure your shift consistently follows agreed processes.

About you

• Proven experience managing a full production shift in a high-volume manufacturing environment, ideally automotive or a similar supply chain operation with demanding delivery and quality requirements.
• A track record of leading Supervisors and a large workforce, with real accountability for safety, quality, delivery and cost.
• Experience of working a continental shift pattern, or of running a shift independently as the senior decision-maker on site.
• A strong people leader who earns respect through consistency, fairness and example, and who is comfortable having difficult conversations when needed.
• Evidence of improving output, engagement and morale in previous roles, not just maintaining the status quo.
• A genuine interest in developing others, with experience of coaching Supervisors to step up into stronger leadership roles.
• Comfortable working with KPIs such as OEE, scrap, downtime and delivery performance, and using them to drive action rather than just report on them.
• Skilled in root cause analysis and structured problem solving, such as 5 Whys or 8D, with the discipline to follow issues through to a lasting fix.
• A sound working knowledge of health and safety, with a commitment to building a proactive safety culture.
• Confident using ERP or production reporting systems and Excel to analyse shift data and present it clearly.
• Calm under pressure and decisive when it matters, particularly when plans change at short notice.
• Clear, confident communication at every level, from operators on the line to senior management.
• Ambitious and keen to progress, with the potential to step up to Production Manager.
• Lean or Six Sigma training would be beneficial, as would a health and safety qualification such as IOSH or NEBOSH.

What's on offer

• Shift allowance on top of basic salary
• Annual bonus
• Company pension
• Private healthcare
• A genuine progression route to Production Manager