Kepak Operations Apprenticeship England

Kepak Operations Apprenticeship - England

Kepak is one of Europes leading food companies with manufacturing sites across Ireland and the UK. Kepaks vision is to be a successful sustainable future ready Food Business with differentiation at its core that is a great place to work. This vision is underpinned by our values of Responsibility Ambition Passion for Food & Teamwork.

*Closing date for applications is 10th of June 2026.

Role Purpose

Our Operations Apprenticeships are designed to give our apprentices a great start to their careers by teaching them the essential skills knowledge and behaviours as well as real job experience needed to succeed specifically within our Operational team. To learn and support safe efficient and highquality operations across Production and Operations. The Operations Apprentice develops essential skills in machinery operation food safety health & safety data analysis and crossfunctional working. They contribute to performance improvement by using KPIs following SOPs and supporting change and continuous improvement activity within the factory environment.

Key Responsibilities (in line with business values)

Responsibility

Apply site Health & Safety policies (PPE LockOut/TagOut guarding) and escalate nonconformance.

Follow foodsafety allergen hygiene segregation and GMP requirements at all times.

Complete documentation accurately including checklists traceability records and stock rotation checks

Operate machinery safely (e.g. bread slicer UV Tunnel)

Participate in risk assessments incident investigations and internal audits with attention to detail.

Maintain excellent punctuality reliability and personal accountability.

Escalate issues promptly to the appropriate team (e.g. Engineering QA Supervisor).

Ambition

Use Excel and KPI dashboards to analyse production data identify trends and suggest opportunities for improving efficiency.

Translate KPIs into daily shift goals and support team performance by reviewing yesterdays results and updating todays plan.

Support continuousimprovement activity using problemsolving tools (e.g. 5 Whys) to reduce waste downtime or inefficiencies.

Take ownership of personal development by maintaining an OTJ log seeking feedback and completing required qualifications.

Train across Production Packaging and Dispatch roles to build broad operational capability and progress toward multiskilling.

Contribute to the rollout of improvements (e.g. new checklists or processes) and gather feedback data.

Passion for Food

Learn strong awareness of food safety allergens segregation and HACCP principles through consistent practical application.

Support audit readiness by ensuring traceability hygiene and documentation standards are met.

Maintain high productquality standards by completing checks accurately and reporting risks immediately.

Coordinate materials readiness verifying batch codes allergen information stock rotation and storage requirements.

Show genuine interest in the production process; learning how factory efficiency links to product quality and customer satisfaction.

Teamwork

Build positive respectful relationships within both their own and other team

Support crossfunctional meetings and contribute clear relevant updates.

Participate in startofshift briefings sharing key information and checking understanding.

Assist in task allocation and buddying/training activities promoting a supportive and inclusive team culture.

Stay calm under pressure and support colleagues to resolve issues together.

Other Role Information

Career Path: Apprentices are expected to progress into an Operations role with opportunities to advance to more senior roles as their career progresses based on performance.

Our Apprenticeship programme allows dynamic motivated hardworking and passionate people an opportunity start their career with one of Ireland & UKs leading food businesses. The programme lasts 2 years

Apprenticeship: This role forms part of a structured apprenticeship programme (Level 4 Process Leader). The apprentice will complete formal training (e.g. Food Safety Level 2 COSHH) and maintain an off-the-job (OTJ) training log working towards the full requirements of the apprenticeship standard.

You can expect:

• To be fully immersed into our Culture from day 1 working alongside key industry experts and Kepak leaders
• Gain an in depth understanding of our brands and products and our relationships with customers and consumers
• To learn key aspects of our business whilst you develop your skills and knowledge
• The opportunity to develop personally and professionally through exposure to key projects tasks and development activities that challenge you all supported by a detailed learner journey and training plan
• A dedicated mentor and development program to support you both on the programme and into a role that best fits your skills

Start date: September 7th 2026

Salary Structure - Y1 18000 Y2 20000

Read more about our programme and hear from some of our Apprentices:https:// are we looking for

We are looking for hardworking and ambitious Apprentices who want to learn and grow in a challenging and fast paced environment by performing real roles.

You must be mobile and willing to travel throughout the programme to undertake development activities at any of our sites in the UK and Ireland.

Knowledge Skills and Experience

Flexible working approach. The factory is operational on a 24/7 basis so flexibility to work shifts is required

Basic Microsoft Office Skills (Especially Microsoft Excel)

Good communication skills

Passionate to learn about food production

Personal Attributes

Team Player: Collaborative approach to working with colleagues across various departments.

Self-Motivation: Driven to succeed and comfortable working independently.

Confidence & Assertiveness: Able to communicate assertively and stand their ground when addressing quality issues while maintaining amicable relationships with colleagues

Adaptability: Flexible and able to adjust to different roles challenges and environments.

We will be looking for alignment with our Core Values:

Responsibility Ability to work on your own initiative and take accountability for your actions

Ambition You will have the willingness and confidence to challenge yourself to be the best you can be and be driven to succeed

Passion for Food this is at the heart of everything we do you must be passionate about every aspect of our industry

Teamwork ability to build positive relationships quickly with people from all cultures and career stages is pivotal

• Employee Discount Scheme
• Service-Related Annual Leave
• Discounted Health Insurance
• Educational Assistance/ L&D
• Discounted Meat Products
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee assistance programme