Negotiable23 days holiday, company pension, on-site parking, work with a great team to help advance your career, progression opportunities for the right person
Kemps Lighting is a UK-based manufacturer of high-quality LED lighting solutions. We supply reliable, efficient products to customers across multiple sectors and take pride in delivering consistent quality, excellent service, and a strong reputation built on doing things properly.
We’re looking for an experienced Production Manager to lead our manufacturing operation, improve performance through Lean ways of working, and drive a workplace culture built on quality, safety, and continuous improvement.
As Production Manager, you will take ownership of day-to-day production performance—ensuring orders are delivered on time, built right first time, and produced in a way that is safe, efficient, and scalable. You’ll lead and develop a hands-on team and play a key role in strengthening our operational standards through Lean manufacturing tools and 5S principles.
This is an ideal role for someone who enjoys being on the shop floor, solving problems quickly, improving processes, and getting the best out of people.
Manage and coordinate daily production activity to meet output targets, quality requirements, and dispatch deadlines
Ensure smooth workflow, balancing labour, materials, and capacity planning
Lead production meetings, allocate priorities, and remove blockers to keep production moving
Drive a culture of Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement across the production area
Implement and maintain 5S (Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardise, Sustain) to improve efficiency, safety, and consistency
Reduce waste, downtime, rework, and defects by improving processes and introducing standard work
Support root cause problem solving (e.g., 5 Whys, basic RCA, corrective actions)
Ensure products are manufactured to the required quality and specification standards
Work closely with quality/engineering teams (where applicable) to resolve issues and prevent recurrence
Maintain production documentation, build instructions, and standard operating procedures
Lead, support, and develop production team operators
Conduct training, coaching, and performance management to build capability and accountability
Promote a positive culture with clear expectations, strong communication, and high standards
Champion a safety-first approach at all times
Ensure the production environment is clean, well organised, and compliant with safe working practices
Maintain strong housekeeping and safe systems of work across all areas
Monitor, manage, report, and improve key production KPIs such as productivity, quality, yield, delivery performance, and labour efficiency
Identify trends and implement improvement plans to strengthen results over time
Essential:
Proven experience as a Production Manager / Manufacturing Manager / Shift Manager (or similar leadership role)
Strong understanding of Lean manufacturing and practical experience implementing improvements
Hands-on experience applying and maintaining 5S standards in a production environment
Confident people manager with the ability to lead, motivate, and develop a team
Strong organisational and problem-solving skills with a focus on “right first time” output
Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities
Desirable:
Experience in electronics, lighting, assembly, or a similar manufacturing setting
Knowledge of basic production planning, scheduling, and materials coordination
Familiarity with continuous improvement tools (Kaizen, standard work, visual management)
Competitive salary (dependent on experience)
Permanent, full-time position within a growing UK manufacturer
A role with genuine ownership and influence across operations
Supportive team culture and the chance to implement improvements that make a real difference
To apply, please send your CV and a short cover note outlining your relevant experience to:
markkemp@kempslighting.com
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