Factory Director Koninklijke Verkade

Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.

As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.

To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive to succeed here because we expect pace and agility, we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact.

The Challenge

For our plant in Zaandam in the Netherlands, we are looking for a Factory Director. Do you bring the factory to a higher level? We offer you the opportunity to join our team and contribute to our mission to bring ‘Happiness with every bite’.

The position entails

As Factory Director at Koninklijke Verkade (part of pladis), you will be fully responsible for the operational performance of our factory. You will lead a team of professionals and ensure a safe, efficient, and high-quality production environment. You are a strategic and inspiring leader who drives continuous improvement and operational excellence. You will report to the Supply Chain Director, pladis Europe & Developing Markets (EDM).

Your main responsibilities

• Operational Leadership: All factory operations, ensuring optimal performance in safety, quality, cost-efficiency, and customer service.
• Team Management: Lead and develop the Factory Management Team, fostering a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Strategic Execution: Translate group-level strategic initiatives (e.g., automation, cost-per-ton reduction) into actionable factory plans.
• Continuous Improvement: Implement and promote lean manufacturing, supply chain excellence tools, and performance optimization across all departments.
• Innovation & NPD: Act as a key stakeholder in New Product Development (NPD) and “asset-based innovation,” collaborating closely with Marketing and P2M.
• Compliance & Standards: Ensure full compliance with local and international laws, GMP, QHSE standards, and corporate policies.
• Investment Planning: Develop Capex proposals aligned with factory growth and optimization plans and manage investment processes.
• Benchmarking: Monitor and compare factory performance with internal and external benchmarks to identify improvement opportunities.

What do you bring?

• Proven experience as a Factory Manager, Plant Director, or similar senior role in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong leadership and people management skills, with a track record of building high-performing teams.
• Expertise in lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate vision into execution.
• Excellent communication skills in English; Dutch is a plus.
• Experience working in a dynamic, fast-paced, and international environment.

What we offer

• A key leadership role within a globally recognized snacking company.
• The opportunity to shape the future of a historic brand and a strategically important factory.
• A dynamic and entrepreneurial work environment with room for innovation and growth.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.

Working for pladis means challenging jobs, career opportunities and an inspiring environment that allow you to enhance your personal development. pladis recognizes that the on-going success of the company depends on the continued development and engagement of our employees and pursues a fair and competitive remuneration policy, recognizing individual and team competencies and performance.

Who are we?

Koninklijke Verkade, founded in 1886, with amazing brands like Verkade and Sultana, is part of pladis since 2016. pladis is one of the world's leading snacking companies. We are the proud steward of over 300 years of family baking and confectionery experience. A worldwide community with 16,000 colleagues around the world. Each of us bring our experience in happiness. Each of us is unique, but we find each other as a family of bakers and chocolatiers, hardworking, with pride and purpose. After all these years we believe that biscuits and chocolate bring people together. We are pladis. We bake Happiness. Happiness with every bite.

Diversity and inclusion is central to everything we do and is reflected across our business. pladis brings together brands and people from around the globe – and this diversity is our great strength.

We’re an equal opportunities employer and believe in encouraging an inclusive environment where we celebrate diversity of thinking and respect everyone’s distinctive qualities and perspectives.

pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.

About Us

pladis is one of the world’s fastest growing snacking companies and home to much loved brands including McVitie’s, GODIVA and Ülker. pladis also owns regional brands Jacob’s, Go Ahead, Flipz, Turtles, BN, Verkade and many more products across sweet and savoury biscuits, wafer, cake and chocolate.

Formed in 2016, pladis is the proud steward of over 300 years of family baking and confectionery experience. The expertise of our 16,000-strong global workforce spans 27 bakeries across 11 countries and is united by our purpose: to ‘bring happiness with every bite’.

As a responsible business delivering the highest quality products and exceptional service, pladis’ products have the potential to reach more than four billion people across the world.