Factory Director

Job Purpose:The Factory Director is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and strategic development of the poultry marination and vegetable processing manufacturing network across UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, KSA, and Egypt. The role provides both strategic and hands-on leadership across multiple factories, ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality products in a reliable, cost-effective, and timely manner while driving operational excellence, financial performance, and continuous improvement.The position leads factory managers and works closely with cross-functional teams including Operations, Quality Assurance, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, Engineering, Maintenance, Construction, Human Resources, and Information Technology. The Factory Director is accountable for manufacturing standardization, capacity planning, capital investments, factory development, operational readiness, and people capability across all locations.This is a highly hands-on leadership role requiring deep expertise in meat and poultry manufacturing, a proven track record of managing multiple factories, and demonstrated experience in designing, building, commissioning, and stabilizing new food manufacturing facilities.

Responsibilities

Multi-Site Manufacturing LeadershipLead the end-to-end performance of all factories, setting clear priorities, targets, governance and accountability for each location.Maintain regular on-site presence and provide direct operational support to factory managers, particularly during performance gaps, start-ups and critical incidents.Establish common operating standards, management routines and KPIs across the manufacturing network while addressing local market and regulatory requirements.Balance production capacity and resources across countries to protect supply continuity and customer service.Operational Performance and ServiceEnsure production plans are achieved safely, efficiently and on time, with reliable daily supply to restaurants and distribution points.Drive performance in yield, labor productivity, line efficiency, throughput, downtime, waste, inventory accuracy and schedule adherence.Lead structured factory performance reviews and ensure timely corrective action where targets are not achieved.Optimize workflows, manpower, shift structures, production scheduling and asset utilization.Poultry, Meat and Vegetable ProcessingProvide technical and operational leadership for poultry thawing, cutting, marination, packing, chilled or frozen handling, and vegetable receiving, washing, cutting, processing and packing.Ensure robust control of time and temperature, cross-contamination, allergens, foreign materials, traceability, shelf life and cold-chain requirements.Improve process capability, recipe accuracy, product consistency, yield and finished-product quality.Support commercialization, production trials, scale-up and first production of new and improved products.Food Safety, Quality and HSEEnsure compliance with company standards, franchisor requirements, applicable food regulations and recognized food safety management systems.Own the implementation and effectiveness of HACCP, GMP, sanitation, environmental monitoring, traceability, recall readiness and corrective action programs.Build a strong food safety, quality and occupational health and safety culture across every factory.Ensure all sites remain audit-ready and that findings are closed effectively and sustainably.Operational Excellence and Continuous ImprovementDevelop and lead a network-wide manufacturing excellence roadmap focused on safety, quality, service, cost and people.Use Lean, root-cause analysis, statistical methods and structured problem-solving to eliminate losses and improve process capability.Standardize best practices across locations and create mechanisms for sharing learning between factory teams.Identify and implement automation and technology opportunities that improve capacity, consistency, safety and cost.Factory Development and Capital ProjectsLead greenfield and brownfield factory projects from feasibility and concept design through construction, commissioning, validation, ramp-up and final handover.Develop user requirements, process flows, hygiene zoning, capacity models, equipment specifications, layouts, budgets and implementation plans.Partner with Construction, Engineering, Procurement, Quality Assurance, IT, suppliers and consultants to deliver compliant, efficient and scalable facilities.Ensure new factories achieve agreed safety, quality, output, cost and service targets following start-up.Financial and Commercial ManagementOwn factory operating budgets, production costing, cost-improvement plans and capital expenditure proposals across the network.Monitor conversion cost, material usage, yield losses, labor cost, utilities, maintenance spend and inventory performance.Build robust business cases for capacity expansion, automation, equipment replacement and factory development.Deliver sustainable productivity and cost savings without compromising food safety, quality or service.People Leadership and Organization CapabilityLead, coach and develop factory managers and functional leaders across all locations.Set clear objectives, review performance, strengthen accountability and build succession plans for critical roles.Ensure effective workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, technical training and leadership development.Create a collaborative, inclusive and high-performance culture that supports operational discipline and continuous improvement.Risk, Business Continuity and Crisis ManagementIdentify operational, capacity, supply, food safety, equipment and people risks and maintain effective mitigation plans.Develop and test contingency plans for production disruption, utility failure, product withdrawal, supply interruption and other emergencies.Lead incident response and recovery with clear escalation, communication, decision-making and follow-up.Reporting and Stakeholder ManagementProvide concise, accurate and action-oriented performance updates to senior management.Maintain effective relationships with internal stakeholders, franchisors, authorities, auditors, suppliers, vendors and contractors.Use operational and financial data to identify trends, prioritize interventions and support strategic decisions.Stakeholders’ ManagementInternal:Senior Management, Operations, QA, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, HR, Engineering, Maintenance, Construction, Warehouse, Development and ITExternal:Franchisors, regulatory authorities, municipalities, auditors, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, vendors, contractors and consultantsEducationBachelor’s degree in Food Technology, Food Science, Food Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management or a related discipline.Postgraduate qualification in engineering, operations, business or supply chain is an advantage.ExperienceMinimum 15 years of progressive experience in food manufacturing, including substantial experience in poultry, meat or protein processing.Minimum 8 years in a senior manufacturing leadership role, with proven responsibility for multiple factories or a regional production network.Demonstrated hands-on experience managing factory operations, solving production issues and improving performance on the shop floor.Proven experience leading the design, build, commissioning and start-up of at least one new food manufacturing facility.Strong experience in production planning, food safety and quality systems, engineering and maintenance, people leadership, budgeting, production costing and capital expenditure management.Experience in poultry marination is essential; experience in vegetable processing, chilled or frozen foods, QSR supply, or GCC manufacturing is strongly preferred.Working knowledge of GFSI-recognized food safety standards, HACCP and occupational health and safety requirements.Leadership and Technical CapabilitiesStrategic leadership with the willingness and ability to remain operationally hands-on.Strong multi-site governance, performance management and organizational development capability.Advanced problem-solving, root-cause analysis, decision-making and crisis leadership skills.Strong commercial and financial acumen, including budget ownership, cost control and investment appraisal.Practical knowledge of factory design, hygienic zoning, process flow, equipment selection, automation, commissioning and start-up.Ability to influence senior stakeholders and lead effectively across cultures and geographies.Excellent planning, communication, presentation and change-management skills.Competence with ERP and manufacturing systems, such as Oracle, together with strong data analysis and reporting capability.Fluent written and spoken English; Arabic is an advantage.Ability and willingness to travel frequently across UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, KSA and Egypt and to work extended hours when operationally required.Success MeasuresFood safety, quality and HSE compliance across all factories.On-time and in-full service performance and continuity of supply.Production yield, labor productivity, line efficiency, waste and conversion cost.Budget delivery and achievement of approved productivity and capital-project benefits.Factory reliability, capacity utilization and preventive maintenance effectiveness.Timely delivery and successful stabilization of new factory and expansion projects.Capability, engagement, retention and succession strength of factory leadership teams.