Print Production Manager (Ref: PT3274)

NEW VACANCY! (PT3274)

PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER

WEST YORKSHIRE

Up to £45,000 DOE/23 Days Holiday plus Bank Holidays/Free electric vehicle charging on site/Phone

Hours: 9am-5pm

Our client is an established print and production business based in West Yorkshire, with a workforce of around 30 and a turnover of approximately £3.5 million. They are looking to appoint an experienced Production Manager to take a hands-on leadership role within their busy production operation.

This is an exciting time to join the business. The company is moving away from lower-margin work towards a stronger corporate customer base and premium brochure production, while also investing heavily in automation, production visibility and AI-led systems. The successful candidate will have a genuine opportunity to make an impact and help shape the future of the production team.

Reporting into senior management, you will manage a team of approximately 10 production employees, including printers, finishers and an Assistant Production Manager. This is very much a floor-based leadership role rather than a purely desk-based position, so we are looking for someone who understands print production and is comfortable leading from the front.

Essential Experience & Skills

• Print industry experience: Strong previous experience within commercial print, digital print, lithographic print, inkjet, finishing, brochure or related print production environments.
• Production leadership: Experience in a Production Manager, Production Supervisor, Factory Manager or senior production role, with the confidence to take ownership of a busy operation.
• Hands-on approach: A practical, visible management style with the ability to lead from the production floor rather than being purely office based.
• People management: Demonstrable experience managing, motivating and holding production teams accountable for performance, quality and deadlines.
• Planning & organisation: Strong production scheduling, prioritisation and capacity-planning skills, with the ability to manage multiple live jobs and changing priorities.
• Problem solving: A calm, decisive approach to resolving production issues and keeping work moving in a fast-paced environment.
• Commercial awareness: An understanding of the importance of efficiency, waste reduction, utilisation, quality and customer delivery.
• IT & systems: Good IT skills and confidence working with production planning, MIS, ERP, workflow or job-management systems. Strong Excel skills would be advantageous.
• Communication: Clear and confident communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with production, sales, customer service and senior management.
• Experience within high-volume or short-turnaround brochure, booklet, magazine or corporate print production.
• Experience working with automated production workflows and digital job tracking.
• Knowledge of Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement or structured production improvement methods.
• Experience monitoring production KPIs including waste, downtime, productivity and machine utilisation.
• Experience developing production staff and improving accountability and team structure.
• An interest in technology, automation and the use of AI to improve business and production systems.
• Production planning: Own and manage the daily and weekly production schedule, prioritising work according to deadlines, production requirements and available capacity.
• Factory leadership: Take day-to-day responsibility for the production floor, setting clear priorities and ensuring the team understands what needs to be achieved.
• People management: Lead, organise and motivate a team of around 10 production staff, including printers, finishers and an Assistant Production Manager.
• Workflow management: Monitor jobs through printing, finishing, packing and dispatch, identifying bottlenecks and ensuring work moves efficiently between departments.
• Capacity planning: Balance machinery, labour and workload to ensure the business can meet current and upcoming demand.
• Deadline management: Take ownership of delivery performance, identifying potential delays early and taking corrective action before customer deadlines are affected.
• Staff allocation: Allocate people effectively according to workload and changing production priorities.
• Holiday and absence planning: Manage holidays and absences to maintain appropriate production cover.
• Quality control: Maintain strong print and finishing standards and ensure issues are identified and resolved quickly.
• Problem solving: React quickly to machine downtime, staffing challenges, urgent work, material issues and other production disruptions.
• Performance management: Monitor productivity, waste, downtime, rework and other production KPIs, using information to improve performance.
• Continuous improvement: Identify opportunities to improve workflow, efficiency, automation, communication and overall factory performance.
• Systems and visibility: Make effective use of production systems, digital job tracking and the company's increasing use of automated and AI-supported processes.
• Communication: Keep senior management and relevant teams informed of production progress, capacity, risks and potential delays.
• Health & safety: Support a safe, organised and compliant production environment and ensure appropriate procedures are followed.

The company places a strong emphasis on looking after its people, with many employees having been with the business for five years or more. It has a close-knit, family-oriented culture and offers the chance to join a stable team while playing a significant role in its future growth.