Role Description
As a Team Leader you will be given the responsibility of running a shift on a production line at one of our factories. You will be in charge of all things relating to the production of our famous products from the equipment to the people, ensuring that orders are met on time and in full. A Team Leader’s primary role is to motivate your team of operators and maintenance technicians to achieve the best possible product quality in a safe and environmentally friendly way. Costs are also an important factor of the job as you will have to manage labour effectively so to limit waste and to reach the production targets.
This role will develop your people managing skills but you will need to show strong leadership and an ability to deal with the different needs of your team. You will need to interact with a wide range of people outside of your immediate team which will develop your communication skills. Things happen quickly in this area so a team leader will have to show excellent judgement and have the drive to get issues dealt with effectively and quickly to minimise disruption to production.
Profile: Team Leader (Moulded) – Ashley Quarterman
"My placement as a Team Leader gave me a good insight into manufacturing at Cadbury whilst greatly developing my people management skills. I was given the responsibility of running a shift on a production plant where my main function was to manage a team of operators and maintenance technicians to meet the set production targets. During the shift it was my responsibility to ensure that the finish goods met product quality guidelines and that everyone on the plant follows health and safety guidelines. I was not just involved in the day to day running as I also conducted regular plant audits to help improve the working environment. These audits highlighted potential safety problems or areas on the plant that were in need of some repair. From these audits it was my responsibility to take the appropriate action to resolve these issues. Whilst I was a Team Leader I also conducted an exercise that looked at changeover times where I created a tool that would highlight the key tasks that needed to be performed and how long they would take so that process could be performed in the most efficient way.
"As a mechanical engineer I did find that the role was frustrating at times due to limited involvement in the engineering side of the manufacturing process. However, as an engineer it is very important that you have the ability to manage people and the Team Leader placement allowed me to focus on and develop my people management skills. I believe that as I progress through the graduate scheme I feel that I can function in or lead teams much better than I could before this placement."