Who We Are

Science In Sport Group is a world leader in sports and performance nutrition.

We have two highly regarded brands; SiS which combines world-class science and innovation to provide optimal performance nutritional solutions for professional athletes, sports and fitness enthusiasts and the active lifestyle community. This includes over 320 professional teams worldwide across a broad range of sports including Football, Rugby, Cycling, Athletics, Basketball, Netball and Swimming. Brand ambassadors include former track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, an eleven-time world champion and six-time Olympic champion, and Eilish McColgan, who won gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres.

PhD Nutrition is a premium, active-nutrition brand for the active lifestyle community wanting intelligent nutrition to help them achieve their goals. With over 20 years of research and development, our products are designed to maximise performance in and out of the gym. It’s an exciting time for PhD Nutrition as 2025 will kick off an entirely new line up of brand ambassadors, from hybrid athletes to qualified sports nutritionists.

The two brands sell through the phd.com and scienceinsport.com digital platforms, third-party online marketplaces including Amazon, as well as extensive domestic and international retail distribution.

In 2022 the company opened a state of the art 160,000 square foot manufacturing and logistics facility in Blackburn, Lancashire. Providing a significant advantage in product costs and customer response time and most importantly, allowing Science In Sport to lead the way for quality standards.

Science In Sport is a Performance Solutions partner to globally recognised elite teams, including Tottenham Hotspur, Saracens Rugby, British Triathlon, Aquatics GB, British Cycling, England Netball and Loughborough Sports. As well as being the Official Energy Gel Provider of RunThrough and the Official Nutrition Partner of Ultra X.

The Role

As a Production Night Shift Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring the efficient and safe running of production operations within a world-class food manufacturing facility. You will lead, support and coach your team to meet quality, efficiency, and cost targets while fostering a culture of continuous improvement, safety, and high performance.

You will work closely with Heath & Safety, Engineering, Warehouse, Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain teams to meet shared objectives while maintaining flexibility to support wider business needs.

• Job Type: Permanent, full-time
• Rate of Pay: £19.12-£20.25 per hour DOE
• Working Hours: 44 hrs per week, 6pm - 5am, Monday to Thursday 
• Location: Blackburn 

Benefits

• Cycle to work scheme
• Product discount
• Birthday day off
• Pension scheme, employer contribution at 4%

The work - Your 4 most important responsibilities

People Safety

• Foster a safety-first culture, where all health and safety procedures are followed, hazards are reported, and the team actively engages in safety observations.
• Lead by example in safe working practices, ensuring risk assessments and procedures are adhered to and accident investigations are completed thoroughly and in a timely manner.

Product Quality

• Ensure that all products meet quality standards, ensuring staff are trained, following BOMs and GMP guidelines to prevent HOLD stock and non-conformances.
• Drive compliance to quality procedures through regular checks, training, and corrective actions.

Operational Efficiency

• Ensure the production plan is executed efficiently, exceeding set performance targets while controlling labour, waste, and downtime.
• Seek and communicate opportunities for process improvement to reduce costs and increase overall productivity.

Team Leadership & Development

• Motivate, coach, and develop the team, ensuring performance management, training, and clear communication are at the forefront.
• Set clear expectations, provide regular feedback, and manage performance through OKRs and 1-2-1s.

Accountability – what you are responsible for delivering

Production & Cost Management

• Deliver the weekly plan – Ensure production targets are met within agreed BOM rates and standard costs.
• Optimise labour allocation – Allocate core headcount to production assets in line with BOM requirements while managing annual leave to minimise overtime and agency spend.
• Reduce changeover times – Monitor and continuously improve line changeovers to meet or exceed predetermined targets
• Waste reduction & control – Accurately capture, analyse, and proactively address the root causes of production waste, and recommend initiatives for department-wide improvements.
• Ensure accurate stock returns – Oversee and ensure that stock returns (Back-to-Stock - BTS) are completed accurately and in compliance with procedures, maintaining stock integrity and minimising discrepancies.

Quality & Compliance

• Uphold quality standards – Ensure strict compliance with all quality and food safety procedures, preventing NCRs and HOLD stock.
• Prevent recurring issues – Investigate NCRs and HOLD stock incidents, establishing and implementing root cause corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
• Maintain audit-readiness – Foster a Clean-As-You-Go (CAYG) culture, ensuring all areas remain compliant and ready for internal and external audits.
• Manage production trials – Oversee production trials, ensuring all trial documentation, communications, and post-trial analysis are completed accurately.

Health & Safety

• Lead a safety-first culture – Understand, actively promote and implement company safety policies. Ensuring legal requirements and company safety procedures are always followed. Set personal example regarding health and safety matters.
• Risk management – Conduct risk assessments on activities within their department ensuring written methods outlining potential hazards and precautions. Ensure that the necessary procedures, rules and regulations designed to achieve this are formulated, published and applied.
• Task assignment – Ensure that only trained personnel perform tasks requiring specific training, always maintaining compliance and safety. Identify and communicate health and safety training requirements within the team.
• Incident investigation & reporting – Ensure accident and near-miss reporting procedures are understood and complied with. Complete manager’s accident reporting and assist with accident/incident investigations where appropriate. Ensuring corrective action implementation to prevent recurrence.
• Encourage positive safety culture – Engage the team through ownership and accountability. Ensure and promote open communication regarding health and safety concerns. Advocate safety observation and near miss reporting and provide feedback that supports their importance to drive engagement in learning and continuous improvement.

Leadership & People Management

• Set and review objectives – Establish SMART objectives for Line Leaders, managing performance through OKRs, 1-2-1s, and coaching.
• Recognise and motivate performance – Deliver real-time positive feedback and recognise high performers through the MVP scheme.
• Communicate clear expectations – Communicate and reinforce clear expectations regarding team performance and conduct.
• Address issues and concerns early – Proactively address absence, performance, and conduct issues in line with company policies, ensuring fairness and consistency.
• Support Employee Relations Cases – Provide effective leadership in employee relations matters, including supporting investigations, disciplinary hearings, and resolution processes, ensuring compliance with company procedures.
• Drive training and development – Identify training needs and implement development programs to build capability and ensure sufficient operational cover.

Communication & Data Management

• Effective shift handover – Provide clear and comprehensive handovers, ensuring the incoming shift is fully informed and set up for success.
• Escalate & resolve downtime issues – Work closely with Line Leaders and Engineers to escalate unplanned downtime, tracking issues through to resolution.
• Deliver toolbox talks – Regularly communicate key updates and insights to the team through structured toolbox talks.
• Ensure accurate data management – Maintain SAP databases and CMMS breakdown requests, ensuring all entries are accurate and timely.
• Use data to drive improvements – Analyse production and cost data, identifying trends and opportunities to enhance performance, reduce waste, and improve efficiency.

Capability - the skills and behaviours required to do this job well

• Health & safety focus and awareness – Fully committed to safe working practices and compliance.
• Strong leadership & communication – Ability to engage, coach, and motivate a diverse production team.
• Problem-solving & decision-making – Capable of quickly diagnosing issues and implementing effective solutions.
• Numeracy, literacy & IT proficiency – Able to interpret BOMs, production data, and KPIs, while utilising manufacturing software effectively.
• Attention to detail & organisation – Ensures accuracy in quality checks, compliance records, and production execution.
• Resilience & adaptability – Thrives in a fast-paced, high-pressure manufacturing environment.
• Awareness of Lean principals – Capable of applying lean methodologies including 5 “Whys” and Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and drive continuous improvement.

Performance – how you will know you are doing a great job

• Your team operates safely, with zero major safety incidents or accidents on shift, and safety engagement levels meeting or exceeding targets.
• Production targets are consistently achieved, with efficiency, downtime, and costs controlled and within agreed thresholds.
• Quality standards are upheld, with minimal NCRs and zero HOLD stock due to process failures.
• Your team is engaged and developing, with clear objectives 1-2-1s, performance reviews, and Personal Performance Plans in place.
• Continuous improvement initiatives deliver measurable results, waste, downtime, and inefficiencies reducing continuously over time.
• Your leadership fosters a positive and productive work environment, resulting in high team morale, strong retention, and minimal staff turnover.

Specific metrics will be set when in role and will be reviewed and built upon regularly. Alongside this, you will be supported with a personal performance plan that will enable you to continue improving your own performance and impact.

Attributes – experience and mindset that will enable you to do well in this role.

• Food manufacturing experience – Prior experience in a shift management role within a food or FMCG environment.
• Proven leadership ability – Capable of developing and managing a high-performing team.
• Process-driven & results-oriented – Strong focus on achieving targets while maintaining compliance and quality.
• Forward operational planning – Able to balance short-term operational demands with long-term improvements and projects.
• High ethical standards & accountability – Upholds company values and ensures integrity in decision-making.

Science in Sport Group is an equal opportunity employer; we value diversity and strive to cultivate an inclusive workplace. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind in regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We fully support reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, to provide an inclusive and welcoming recruitment experience.