Operations Manager

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Location: Tullynahinera, Castleblayney, IE, A75 W710

Company: Lakeland Dairies

Operations Manager - Lough Egish

Lakeland Dairies Co-operative Society Limited (The Group) is the second largest dairy processor on the island of Ireland. The business is complex and ambitious with a milk supply pool of 2 billion litres of milk, drawn from over 3,200 family farms across 16 counties.

Applications are invited for the above position at our Lough Egish site.

The opportunity: At Lakeland Dairies, we're investing in the future of high performance feed milling, and we're seeking an accomplished, strategically minded Operations Manager to lead our Lough Egish site. This is a senior leadership role for an individual who excels in operational oversight, drives continuous improvement, and empowers high performing teams to deliver exceptional results.

A confident and influential leader, the successful candidate will set the standard for production efficiency, champion rigorous quality, optimise haulage operations, and ensure our mill runs with precision, safety and professionalism.

If you're motivated by operational excellence and ready to shape the performance of a market leading agri business, this is a defining career opportunity.

What does success look like?

• Production Leadership - Drive optimal production efficiency across the Lough Egish mill, ensuring output aligns with business scale and demand.
• Quality Management - Oversee raw material and finished feed quality, ensuring compliance with local/EU regulations and internal quality schemes.
• Cost Control - Lead continuous cost reduction initiatives across energy, labour, packaging and transport.
• Transport & Haulage - Ensure best value haulage operations for raw materials and finished feed.
• Health & Safety - Maintain full compliance with company H&S guidelines across all operational activities.
• Technology & Improvement - Keep the Division aligned with relevant production technology and machinery developments.
• Team Culture - Foster a culture of performance, accountability, empowerment and collaborate across business functions.
• Business Continuity - Develop and implement a robust continuity plan for the Division.
• Reporting - Produce routine reports and coordinate regular production meetings with mill managers and the Agri Division Manager.

What you will need to succeed:

• Manufacturing Excellence - Demonstrated success in leading high performance manufacturing operations, consistently improving productivity, efficiency and output quality.
• Leadership Capability - A confident people leader with proven experience developing teams, strengthening accountability and building a high performance culture.
• Change Leadership - A passion for driving meaningful, cross functional change and embedding continuous improvement across multiple departments.
• Commercial & Financial Acumen - Skilled in budgeting, cost control, resource optimisation and strategic planning to ensure operational performance meets profitability targets.
• Communication Strength - Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to influence, engage and collaborate at all levels.
• Commercial Mindset - A results driven approach focused on delivering measurable improvements and long term value for the business.

Experience of dairy/food manufacturing would be advantageous

If you have the necessary skills and attributes to meet this exciting opportunity in a dynamic, high volume and fast-moving business, we would be delighted to hear from you.

no later than midday on 03/08/2026.

Lakeland Dairies Ltd is committed to having an inclusive workplace where every employee feels they belong. If you require accommodations to be made during the recruitment process or have questions relating to accessibility, please contact us at .

We are committed to equality and believe in building a diverse organisation that is representative of and responsive to the needs of our customers and stakeholders.