Value Chain Manager

Zertus UK & Ireland – Hybrid, based at Humdinger Heckington or close to any Zertus UK&I site (Fakenham, Bromborough, Sherburn)

Key Benefits: Competitive salary; 10% of salary annual bonus opportunity; £5,500 annual car allowance; Hybrid working

Closing Date: 27/03/2026

At Zertus UK & Ireland, we’re looking for a Value Chain Manager to help us unlock value across the full lifecycle of our supply base and product portfolio. We manufacture a diverse range of snacks, confectionery, chocolate and free-from treats across our UK & Ireland sites, producing well‑known brands such as NOMO, Sun Valley, Kinnerton Kids, The Fruit Factory and Yum & Yay, alongside premium collaborations with major UK retailers and leading confectionery partners.

We source ingredients, packaging and raw materials from across the world and this role takes a true end‑to‑end, field‑to‑fork perspective, following our products from global sourcing, through manufacturing and logistics, right through to customer delivery and product performance in market.

Based within our Procurement function, this is a high‑impact, cross‑functional role focused on continuous improvement and identifying opportunities to reduce cost, improve efficiency, enhance quality, strengthen service and reduce waste across our UK&I value chain.

• Mapping and analysing the full value chain for priority customers, products and sites.
• Building and managing a pipeline of improvement projects with clear KPIs and defined value outcomes.
• Facilitating collaboration across functions to diagnose issues, design solutions and deliver measurable results.
• Creating governance routines, reporting mechanisms and meeting structures to embed value‑chain thinking.
• Providing clear, data-driven insight to the Procurement Director and senior leadership.
• Supporting capability building through tools, training and ways of working that strengthen our value‑chain culture.
• Regular travel to Zertus UK&I sites, customers and suppliers, including overseas where necessary.  
• Reporting to the Procurement Director. 

• Experience in value chain optimisation, continuous improvement, operational excellence or end‑to‑end supply chain roles.
• Strong exposure to manufacturing environments, ideally food, snacks or confectionery production.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross‑functional projects involving procurement, operations, technical, commercial or engineering teams.
• Background working with UK retailers or customer-facing operations is advantageous.
• Strong analytical capability - able to interrogate data at both granular and macro levels to identify improvement opportunities.
• Skilled in creative problem solving and systems thinking to understand complex end‑to‑end processes.
• Excellent communication skills, able to tailor messaging across sites, leadership teams and functional specialists.
• Able to work with and challenge stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience in cultural or behavioural change, embedding new tools and ways of working.
• Capable of identifying waste, optimising processes and delivering sustained improvements.
• Commercial awareness - balancing cost, quality and service while understanding downstream customer impacts.
• Proactive, practical and solutions‑focused, with the ability to work across multiple sites and manage competing priorities.
• Relevant qualifications in supply chain, engineering, operations, business improvement or similar, or equivalent experience.
• CI certification (Lean/Kaizen/Six Sigma) is beneficial but not essential.

• Competitive, thoroughly benchmarked salary and wider package
• Annual bonus plan of up to 10% of salary
• Annual car allowance of £5,500
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• 4% employer and 5% employee pension contributions and Life Assurance at 4x basic salary
• Health Care Cash Plan via Paycare (includes dental, optical, therapy, counselling)
• Access to Paycare Perks for high street and retailer discounts
• Holiday Purchase Scheme – buy up to one extra week per year
• Cycle to Work Scheme and Electric Car Scheme (salary sacrifice, subject to criteria)
• Family-friendly policies, including enhanced maternity/paternity leave
• Annual calendar of engagement and wellbeing activities
• Opportunity to support your local community with one paid volunteering/fundraising day per year
• Access to staff shop discounts
• Monthly employee recognition awards
• Refer a Friend recruitment rewards
• Ongoing training and development opportunities

Zertus UK & Ireland comprises Humdinger Foods, Kinnerton Confectionery and Lir Chocolates, manufacturing a wide portfolio of snacks and confectionery across our UK and Irish sites. Our brands include NOMO, Sun Valley, Kinnerton Kids, The Fruit Factory, Yum & Yay, as well as collaborations with Baileys and Guinness. We are part of Zertus GmbH, a long-established European food group headquartered in Hamburg, employing more than 2,000 people across multiple markets. Our UK&I locations include Heckington, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Fakenham, Bromborough and Navan in Ireland, with office space in Hull and Holborn, London.