Job Description

General Manager

Featherstone

This is an opportunity to lead one of the UK’s flagship packaging manufacturing sites.

With the capacity to produce over 200 m illion square metres of corrugated packaging each year, Featherstone is recognised as one of the highest-performing operations within DS Smith’s network. Built on a culture of operational excellence, exceptional customer service and continuous improvement, the site has an outstanding reputation for delivering for its customers and its people.

We’re looking for an exceptional people-first leader to build on that success.

This opportunity is focused on taking an already successful site and leading and inspiring it to reach even greater heights. You’ll be joining an experienced and capable site leadership team, bringing the leadership, commercial thinking and strategic vision needed to continue raising standards across safety, quality, customer service and operational performance.

If you’re passionate about developing people, creating high-performing cultures and delivering exceptional business results, we’d love to hear from you.

About the Role

As General Manager, you will have overall accountability for the performance of our Featherstone manufacturing site, leading a business where safety, quality, customer satisfaction and operational excellence come first.

You’ll provide visible, authentic leadership across the site, empowering colleagues to perform at their best while ensuring every decision reflects our commitment to safety, quality and customer success.

Working alongside a high performing leadership team, you’ll shape the future of the site by developing talent, driving continuous improvement and ensuring Featherstone continues to be recognised as one of the best-performing manufacturing operations in the UK.

You’ll also work closely with colleagues across Commercial, Supply Chain, Finance and HR to translate business strategy into operational excellence, ensuring the site continues to deliver outstanding results for our customers and the wider business.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

• Providing inspiring, people-centred leadership that creates an engaged, accountable and high-performing culture.
• Championing a world-class health, safety and environmental culture where everyone goes home safe every day by leading for Safety Above All Else.
• Building on Featherstone’s reputation for excellence by driving continuous improvement across safety, quality, service and productivity.
• Leading, coaching and developing direct and indirect leadership team members, while strengthening succession and future capability.
• Delivering exceptional customer service through outstanding operational performance, quality and OTIF delivery.
• Driving commercial performance by balancing customer needs with operational efficiency and financial performance.
• Taking full ownership of site performance, including budget delivery, profitability, productivity and capital investment.
• Identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce waste and support sustainability objectives.
• Building strong relationships across the wider business, being the conduit for realising business benefit through crops functional working with Commercial, Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain and Support Functions.
• Creating an environment where colleagues feel valued, listened to, empowered, able to be themselves and proud to work at Featherstone.

About You

You’re an experienced manufacturing leader who understands that exceptional operational performance starts with exceptional people.

You know how to inspire teams, create accountability and build a culture where safety, quality and customer focus become habits rather than priorities.

You’re equally comfortable on the shop floor engaging with colleagues as you are presenting business performance to senior stakeholders. Commercially astute and operationally credible, you’re able to make balanced decisions that benefit both our customers and the business.

Most importantly, you’re someone who leads with authenticity, humility and integrity.

What We’re Looking For

• Significant senior leadership experience within manufacturing, packaging, FMCG or another fast-paced production environment.
• A proven track record of leading large, complex manufacturing operations.
• An outstanding people leader with experience building engaged, high-performing teams.
• A visible commitment to creating and sustaining a world-class safety culture.
• Strong operational leadership with experience delivering continuous improvement and Lean Manufacturing initiatives.
• Someone with a proven track record of leading in a trade union environment and building strong, collaborative relationships with the on-site reps and regional officer.
• Commercially aware, with strong financial acumen and experience managing budgets, profitability and capital investment.
• Customer-focused, understanding the importance of delivering outstanding quality, service and reliability.
• A collaborative leader who builds trusted relationships across all levels of the business.
• Passionate about developing people and creating an inclusive culture where everyone can succeed.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role isn’t simply maintaining performance—it’s building on an already exceptional foundation.

You’ll create an environment where people thrive, customers continue to choose DS Smith with confidence and Featherstone strengthens its position as one of the UK’s leading manufacturing sites.

Success will include:

• A strong, engaged and empowered workforce.
• An uncompromising safety culture with safety above all else leading every decision.
• Exceptional customer satisfaction through outstanding quality and OTIF performance.
• Continued improvements in productivity, efficiency and operational excellence.
• Strong commercial performance and sustainable profitability.
• A highly capable leadership team with clear succession and development plans.
• Continued recognition of Featherstone as one of DS Smith’s highest-performing manufacturing operations.

Why Join DS Smith?

At DS Smith, we’re redefining sustainable packaging through innovation, operational excellence and the incredible people who make it happen.

This is an opportunity to lead one of our most successful manufacturing sites, working with an experienced leadership team and talented colleagues who are passionate about delivering for our customers every day.

If you’re looking for a role where you can make a genuine impact—on people, performance and the future of one of the UK’s flagship manufacturing operations—we’d love to hear from you.

What we can offer you:

• Competitive salary
• Qualifying Sick Pay scheme
• Pension scheme & Life insurance
• Share Save scheme
• Income Protection
• 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Virtual GP, Occupational Health & free Flu vaccine
• Cycle to Work and shopping discounts

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