ARF Trading Division in Saudi Arabia is hiring a senior Bakery Plant Manager to lead all aspects of their bakery production facility across multiple KSA sites — Riyadh, Rabigh, and Jeddah. The role is responsible for Health & Safety, Food Safety, Quality, GMP, Staff Welfare, Productivity, and Budget Management, serving as the operational focal point that ensures every area of the business performs cohesively and in line with commercial expectations.
About the Role — ARF Trading Division, KSA
Division: ARF Trading Division — Bakery Production Operations
Department: Operations — reporting to the Operations Manager
Sites: Riyadh, Rabigh, and Jeddah — multi-site leadership responsibility
Scope: Goods-in and stores through to packing, dispatch, quality, maintenance, and workforce management
Work Pattern: Saturday to Thursday, 08:00–18:00 general hours with site attendance outside these hours as required
Key Performance Areas — What You Will Own
OEE: Achievement of Site Overall Equipment Effectiveness target
Quality: Reduction in Not-Right-First-Time (NRFT) and food safety complaints
Cost: Manufacturing costing, variance to standard cost, and COGs reduction
Lean: Implementation of Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement (CI) projects
Energy: Reduce energy and utilities consumed per saleable tonne across all sites
Position Overview
This is one of the most senior operational leadership roles available in Saudi Arabia’s bakery and food manufacturing sector in 2026. The Bakery Plant Manager at ARF Trading Division is the operational heartbeat of the production facility — the leader who drives performance, enforces standards, develops teams, and delivers the business plan across multi-site KSA operations.
From managing the full production workflow — goods-in through to packing and dispatch — to leading CI initiatives, overseeing maintenance strategy, and delivering on commercial KPIs, this role demands a proven, hands-on leader who thrives in fast-moving short shelf life food manufacturing environments. If you have built your career in bakery, FMCG, or short shelf life production and are ready for a multi-site senior leadership challenge in the Kingdom, this opportunity was made for you.
Why This Role Matters: The Bakery Plant Manager is not just a production overseer — this is the strategic operational leader responsible for ensuring that ARF’s bakery facilities deliver against every commercial, quality, safety, and cost target. With multi-site accountability across Riyadh, Rabigh, and Jeddah, the role offers exceptional career scope, direct impact on business outcomes, and the opportunity to shape a world-class short shelf life manufacturing operation in one of the GCC’s most dynamic food markets.
Key Results Areas & Responsibilities
Health, Safety & Food Safety Leadership
- Take full accountability for all aspects of Health and Safety across the bakery production facility and multi-site operations.
- Lead the Quality function to reduce food safety and quality complaints through the introduction of Customer-focused QA, TQM, and internal audit tools and techniques.
- Ensure zero major external audit compliance issues across all ARF production sites.
- Drive adherence to Housekeeping standards through the 5S process and Food Safety and Hygiene Team initiatives.
- Enforce Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards across the entire operations facility at all times.
Production & Operational Performance
- Deliver production plan budgeted Attainment to Plan (ATP) across all sites, ensuring alignment with commercial sales expectations.
- Achieve Site OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) targets through structured performance management and CI initiatives.
- Control and effectively deploy direct and indirect labour to meet the production programme requirements and customer delivery timelines.
- Ensure regular communication to site teams on production performance and KPI achievements through Area Process Leaders.
- Drive improvements in communication and performance effectiveness across Safety, Production, Quality, and Maintenance teams.
- Oversee all manufacturing and operations activities — from goods-in and stores areas through to packing and dispatch.
Cost Control & Financial Management
- Manage manufacturing costing and deliver performance within variance to standard cost across all production areas.
- Drive increases in Units Per Man Hour and reductions in Cost Per Unit / Cost of Goods Sold (COGs).
- Reduce energy and utilities consumed per saleable tonne through targeted efficiency and sustainability programs.
- Identify and deliver Total Lowest Cost improvement projects across the bakery production operation.
- Improve material loss control and reduce product giveaway to protect margins and resource efficiency.
Maintenance & Continuous Improvement
- Lead the maintenance function to achieve sustained reduction in downtime through preventative and predictive maintenance techniques, CI teams, and improvement projects.
- Implement Lean Manufacturing techniques across all production operations to eliminate waste and optimize workflow.
- Reduce operational key losses including changeover times through systematic analysis and process improvement.
- Lead NPD (New Product Development) and EPD (Existing Product Development) projects and capital investment initiatives.
- Drive Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and effective corrective action management across all operational failure categories.
People Management & Leadership
- Lead from the front — maintain an average 70/30 factory floor to office split to stay connected to operations and teams.
- Performance manage all direct reports against the site business plan and individual KPI targets.
- Build a cohesive environment where all functions — production, quality, maintenance, safety — work together as a unified team.
- Ensure Internal Supplier/Customer relationships and information flows support and improve commercial outcomes through the production process.
- Champion a culture of continuous improvement, challenge the status quo, and develop talent at every level of the operation.
Education, Qualifications & Experience
Essential Requirements
- Minimum 5 years of senior experience leading a short shelf life production site with a workforce of 100+ staff — non-negotiable
- Degree-level qualification (or equivalent) in Engineering, Food Technology, or a Baking discipline
- Current IOSH Managing Safely certification
- Food Safety Level 3 (Intermediate / Supervising) qualification
- HACCP Level 2 certification and Internal Auditing qualification
- Proven track record in Continuous Improvement and Lean Manufacturing — ideally within bakery, short shelf life food, or FMCG production
Desirable Qualifications
- Black Belt or Green Belt in Six Sigma — highly desirable and will give strong preference during selection
- Experience leading NPD, EPD, and capital investment projects in a food manufacturing environment
- Prior experience working in KSA or GCC food manufacturing operations is a significant advantage
Key Competencies & Skills
- Hands-on, front-line leader who thrives in a fast-moving, high-performance manufacturing environment
- Strong numerical and analytical capability to interpret data, drive decisions, and present findings to senior management
- Excellent communicator at all levels — from factory floor operators to board-level stakeholders
- Ability to challenge, problem-solve, and drive improvement from the bottom up across diverse production teams
- Customer-focused and commercially aware — able to align operational decisions with business outcomes
- Self-confident, decisive, and open to new ideas, technologies, and working methods
Why Bakery Plant Management Careers Are Booming in KSA 2026
Saudi Arabia’s food manufacturing sector is one of the fastest-growing in the Middle East, driven by Vision 2030’s food security agenda, growing domestic consumer demand, and major investment in local production capacity. The bakery and short shelf life food segment — bread, buns, pastry, and confectionery — is a cornerstone of this expansion, with leading companies investing heavily in multi-site production infrastructure across Riyadh, Jeddah, and beyond.
For experienced Plant Managers with a bakery or FMCG background, KSA in 2026 offers outstanding career opportunities — competitive packages, multi-site leadership scope, and the chance to build operational excellence in one of the world’s most dynamic food markets. A senior role with ARF Trading Division puts you at the operational center of this exciting national food production story, with genuine impact, visibility, and career growth.
Who Should Apply?
- Senior Bakery Plant Managers: With 5+ years running short shelf life sites of 100+ staff and a proven OEE and CI track record
- FMCG Operations Managers: From bread, buns, pastry, or short shelf life food manufacturing seeking a multi-site KSA leadership role
- Lean / Six Sigma Practitioners: With Black or Green Belt credentials and food manufacturing experience
- Food Technology Engineers: With strong production management experience and HACCP/Food Safety certification
- Gulf-Based Manufacturing Leaders: Seeking a senior multi-site plant management opportunity in Saudi Arabia’s growing food sector
- Continuous Improvement Champions: With a track record of driving OEE, cost reduction, and quality improvements in production environments
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