Whey Production Manager

Dale Farm Cooperative is a UK dairy farmer co-operative owned by over 1200 dairy farmers who supply us with fresh milk. Dale Farm has operations throughout the UK and Ireland producing and distributing a wide range of dairy products which it sells across the UK and Ireland as well as exporting to over 45 countries worldwide.

At Dale Farm virtually every career discipline is represented in our workforce, from production, engineering and distribution, to sales & marketing and food technology/quality assurance, to Finance, HR and IT through to general management. Our standards are high and when we recruit we are looking for those with energy and drive, who are keen for responsibility and motivated to succeed with a record of achievement and with the potential to develop as the company grows.

Culture

Our culture is based on setting best in class standards, working to-wards and delivering on committed objectives, striving for constant improvement and involving everyone in the company. We strive to develop our people and harness everyone's contribution to deliver a winning team.

The company is an Equal Opportunities employer and is committed to a safe, inclusive and relationship based workspace.

In return, we offer a high degree of responsibility, plenty of challenge, good opportunities for learning and personal development and rewarding benefit packages, all within a fast moving and results oriented environment.

This is a senior management position where you will be responsible for managing all aspects of performance from a state of the art whey ultra filtration facility, including upstream and downstream processing plant operations to produce whey protein and lactose-based nutrition products supplied to global customers in the infant formula, health and food sectors.

The Role

• Lead a multi-skilled team to operate and maintain the whey processing plant safely and efficiently.
• Manage upstream and downstream processing to improve output, cost and quality.
• Use strong technical and analytical skills to support high-performing continuous operations.
• Use process trends to link inputs with outputs and support data-led decisions.
• Make decisions that balance quality, cost and customer needs.
• Identify the root cause of quality issues and lead timely corrective action.
• Identify and implement ways to improve output, yield and plant efficiency.
• Identify process bottlenecks and work with engineering to remove them.
• Work closely with external customers to understand and meet their expectations.
• Clearly communicate operational needs across the business to improve performance.
• Maintain best-in-class standards for a global customer base.
• Monitor and meet daily targets for production, quality, efficiency and compliance.
• Build a culture of continuous improvement in performance, yield and reliability.
• Lead investment and improvement projects that strengthen manufacturing performance.
• Set high standards for leadership, communication, team development and accountability.
• Meet all food safety, quality, health and safety, and operational standards.
• A third-level qualification, ideally in an applied science or food related subject.
• A minimum of five years' management experience in food processing or a similar environment.
• Demonstrate strong technical and analytical skills within a continuous processing or complex environment.
• Proven experience leading and developing multi-skilled teams in a fast-paced production environment.
• A record of improving quality, cost, output and operational performance.
• Excellent communication and management skills, with the ability to work well with internal teams and external customers.
• Experience in dairy, whey or nutritional ingredients manufacturing.
• Experience with filtration technology and complex processing plants.
• Experience leading improvement or capital investment programmes in manufacturing.

Closing date for applications is Monday 9 th November 2026