British Sugar is a home-grown success story and one of the most efficient and competitive beet processers in the world. Around 3,500 farmers based in East Anglia and the East Midlands supply our four advanced manufacturing sites with eight million tonnes of sugar beet every year. We, in turn, make this in to over 1 million tonnes of sugar, serving customers across the UK, Ireland and increasingly growing commercially in the EU and world sugar markets.
Salary Range 60,000.00 to 70,000.00
Following a move from the department to a role within our wider ABF group, we have a vacancy for someone to join the team at our largest British Sugar site at Wissington. An exciting opportunity for someone to lead the team and optimise the process of producing 70 million litres of sustainable ethanol fuel annually, whilst supplying 20,000t of CO2 gas to an on-site CO2 capture and liquefaction plant.
Job Purpose
Reporting to the APU Lead, the Bioethanol Process Lead will be responsible for leading, coordinating and providing technical support to the bioethanol production process to meet key performance objectives. This role will ensure that all bioethanol production targets are achieved, while driving continuous improvement, maintaining high safety standards, and adhering to environmental regulations. The role requires strong technical knowledge, effective team leadership, and a commitment to operational excellence within a dynamic manufacturing environment.
Core Accountabilities
- Operational Excellence: Lead the production team on a day-to-day basis to meet business targets and optimise/improve business processes and ways of working to drive improvements in all areas of plant performance.
- People Leadership: Lead, coach, and mentor technicians within the Co-Product Extraction and CHP team, fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and accountability.
- Process Optimization: Analyse production data and key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify areas for process improvement. Implement changes to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and increase yield while maintaining quality standards.
- Safety leadership: developing a culture leading to zero lost time injuries and the delivery of all elements aligned with business goals.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Working closely with relevant stakeholders, ensuring our metrics embed the continuous improvement journey. Work in partnership with other APU Process Leads and technical support functions across the sites to ensure best practice is identified, captured, shared and implemented across the business.
- Budget and Cost Management: Assist in the preparation and management of the bioethanol production budget, focusing on cost-effective operations and continuous improvement of financial performance. Develop a clear commercial understanding to drive performance.
Skills, Knowledge and Competencies
- Technical Expertise in a Chemical Production Environment: Experience of successfully leading high performing technical manufacturing teams.
- Process Improvement: Experience in applying lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement methodologies to drive operational efficiency.
- Strong Problem-Solving Skills: Proven record of effective problem solving/fault diagnosis.
- Leadership and Team Development: Demonstrated experience in leading technical teams, with strong skills in coaching, mentoring, and team-building.
- Communication Skills: Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical information to a variety of stakeholders and work effectively across departments.
- IT Skills: Proficiency with Microsoft Office 365, and plant maintenance management systems and DCS
Benefits
- Competitive starting salary
- Company matched Pension Scheme - up to 10%
- Private medical insurance
- 26 days holiday + bank holidays
- Buy holiday up to 5 days
- Employee assistance programme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Retail discounts
