Operations Manager (Robotics)
Location: Peterborough | Full-time, Permanent | Salary dependant on experience
OAL are looking for an experienced Operations Manager to lead the delivery of our growing robotics portfolio.
The Operations Manager will own the performance of a dedicated delivery team focused on deploying end-of-line robotic automation - fenceless pick and place and palletising systems - into food and beverage manufacturing sites across the UK.
This is a leadership role at the heart of OAL's growth in robotics. You'll run your delivery team as a mini-business, with full accountability for project outcomes, financial performance and team development. If you've led delivery in robotics or industrial automation and want to build something at scale, this is the role.
What You’ll Be Doing
Leading a cross-functional delivery team deploying robotic pick and place and palletising systems into live production environments.
Owning end-to-end project delivery - from design and build through installation, commissioning, training and customer handover.
Taking full accountability for the team's delivery performance: safety, quality, schedule, cost and customer satisfaction.
Managing the P&L for your delivery team, including revenue, cost, margin and utilisation.
Working closely with our product and technology teams to refine and standardise how we deploy robotics, building the repeatable processes that enable us to scale.
Building team capability - recruiting, developing and coaching engineers with robotics, controls, vision and mechanical integration skills.
Driving continuous improvement through standardisation, right-first-time delivery and learning from every deployment.
Managing risk and customer communication throughout delivery, particularly around safety for fenceless robotic systems operating alongside people.
What We’re Looking For
Proven experience leading delivery teams in a robotics, industrial automation or systems integration environment.
Track record of owning delivery performance and commercial outcomes for technically complex projects.
Strong understanding of robotic cell deployment, including mechanical integration, controls, safety systems and commissioning.
Experience with pick and place and/or palletising applications in manufacturing environments.
Commercially astute — comfortable managing P&L, margins and project financials.
Confident people leader who builds capability and holds teams accountable.
Strong safety awareness, particularly around collaborative or fenceless robotic systems.
Data-driven, with experience using KPIs and operational reporting to drive performance.
A full UK driving licence and willingness to travel to customer sites regularly.
Nice to Have
Experience with KUKA robotics platforms or Cognex vision systems.
Background in food and beverage or FMCG manufacturing environments.
Experience scaling a delivery function from early deployments to volume rollout.
Why You'll Love Working With Us
Build something at scale: You'll be shaping how OAL delivers robotics as demand grows — not just managing projects, but building the delivery engine.
Cutting-edge technology: Work with fenceless robotic systems, vision-guided automation and integrated factory control in real production environments.
Real accountability: This isn't a middle-management role. You'll own your team's outcomes end to end, with the autonomy to make decisions and the support to succeed.
Collaborative culture: A family business where teamwork, initiative and continuous improvement are genuinely valued.
Professional growth: As our robotics business scales, so does the opportunity for the person leading its delivery.
About OAL
OAL helps food manufacturers automate. Based in Peterborough, we're an innovative family business providing automation, compliance and robotics solutions to the food industry. We're a market leader in packaging verification, vision systems and robotic automation for food production.