Office Manager

A well-established food manufacturing business is looking for a new Office Manager.

Reporting into senior operations leadership, the Office Manager will take overall responsibility for the office, staff and the day-to-day running of office operations. You'll lead and develop an administration team, act as the key escalation point for complex customer/order queries, and ensure smooth coordination between Customer Service, Production, Warehouse/Dispatch and Accounts. The role is hands-on and requires strong organisational control, excellent stakeholder communication, and confidence managing processes in a fast-paced manufacturing and logistics environment.

Key Responsibilities

Office & Team Leadership

Overall management of the administration office and daily office operations.
Supervision, training, coaching, support and performance oversight of the administration team.
Allocate and prioritise workloads, plan holidays, and ensure adequate administrative cover.
Maintain continuity of office operations during staff absence and peak workload periods.

Customer Service & Order Administration

Oversee customer service standards, including shared inbox management and query resolution.Supervise and support:

Sales order processing, amendments and order administration
Routine data entry and maintenance of customer records
New customer account set-up
Complaint logging and associated administration
Act as the primary point of escalation for customer service and administrative queries, including investigation of complex customer/order issues.Manage dispatch, logistics & POD Administration (UK & Export)

Supervise and oversee the dispatch administration for domestic and export orders (documentation support as required).
Transport bookings, delivery tracking, and coordination with transport providers.
Manage customer collections and associated administration.
Proof of Delivery (POD) retrieval, checking and filing.Invoicing, Payments & Credit Control Support

Invoicing and payment administration (including system processing and reporting).
Credit control follow-up and administrative support to Accounts (in line with agreed processes).

Cross-Functional Coordination & Operational Control

Liaise daily with Production, Warehouse/Dispatch, Samples team, Accounts, customers, suppliers and transport partners to ensure smooth information flow and fast issue resolution.
Monitor outstanding customer orders, production progress, dispatch schedules and unresolved admin issues; proactively drive actions to maintain service levels.
Ensure office procedures are followed consistently and administrative standards are maintained.

Required Skills & Experience

Computer literacy: Microsoft (excel, word, excel) - Intermediate skills
Intermediate - Advanced Excel skills
Proven experience in an administration/office management role, ideally within manufacturing, food production, FMCG, distribution or logistics.
Demonstrable people-management experience (supervision, training, performance support, workload planning).
Excellent organisation, attention to detail, and ability to prioritise in a high-volume environment.
Strong communication skills (written and verbal) and confident handling of sensitive issues (complaints, delayed deliveries, invoice queries).
Google Workspace: Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Drive - Intermediate
Adobe: Acrobat (PDF editing), Illustrator, Bridge
Sage 50 Accounts (invoicing, exporting reports/data)

Benefits

25 days Holiday plus bank holidays

Access to small electric vehicle after 6-month successful review

Company pension auto enrolment

'Perks at work' discount membership

Day off for your Birthday

Free parking onsite
Only candidates based in UK and eligible to work in UK are allowed