Operations Apprentice

MARS PETCARE UK

Castle Cary, BA7 7PH

Closes on Friday 28 February

Posted on 4 November 2024

Print

Contents

Summary

An exciting opportunity to join a 3-year Apprenticeship, you'll be working towards the Level 3 Food and Drink Technical Operator qualification. You'll take part in training courses, team building events, tackling real challenges and taking on real responsibility. You'll be part of our team who produces our fantastic James Wellbeloved pet food.

Annual wage
£20,000 a year

Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

Salary £20,000 rising on completion of each academic year + annual bonus + benefits.

Training course
Food and drink technical operator (level 3)
Hours
37.5 hours per week, shifts TBC.

37 hours a week

Possible start date

Monday 1 September

Duration

3 years

Positions available

2

Work

As an apprentice, you’ll work at a company and get hands-on experience. You’ll gain new skills and work alongside experienced staff.

What you’ll do at work

With strong mentorship and coaching from our experienced Operations Associates you will be: 

  • Developing leadership skills to enable you to lead a team to achieve results 
  • Learning how to operate, diagnose faults, repair and maintain our equipment 
  • Working across both process and wrapping areas  
  • Applying all relevant Mars quality and safety systems to ensure the safety of people and products is maintained. 

Where you’ll work

Oak Tree Meadow

Blackworthy Road

Castle Cary

BA7 7PH

Training

An apprenticeship includes regular training with a college or other training organisation. At least 20% of your working hours will be spent training or studying.

College or training organisation

BRIDGWATER AND TAUNTON COLLEGE

Your training course

Food and drink technical operator (level 3)

Equal to A level

Course contents
  • Interpret, follow and implement food and drink production SOPs.
  • Interpret, follow and implement quality assurance procedures.
  • Monitor production performance, stock usage and rotation.
  • Operate or use food and drink production tools and equipment.
  • Identify hazards (Critical Control Points) and control measures to mitigate risks.
  • Comply with food safety regulations and procedures.
  • Comply with health and safety regulations and procedures.
  • Comply with environment and sustainability regulations and procedures. Segregate, recycle and dispose of waste.
  • Monitor and inspect production machinery.
  • Apply basic maintenance practices. For example, check levels, parts wear, pressure, and sensors, and grease and lubricate.
  • Select and use maintenance hand tools.
  • Follow food safe engineering standards and practices. For example, use of food safe chemicals, check out and in of components.
  • Follow site isolation and lock off procedures (lockout, tagout).
  • Diagnose and resolve issues. Escalate issues.
  • Apply fault-finding and problem-solving techniques.
  • Apply continuous improvement techniques. Devise suggestions for improvement.
  • Collect and interpret information. Use data to apply changes
  • Record information - paper based or electronic.
  • Use information technology. Comply with GDPR.
  • Plan and organise self, others and resources.
  • Communicate with colleagues and stakeholders visually and verbally.
  • Communicate in writing.
  • Identify training needs. Train and buddy team members in the workplace.

    • Your training plan

    Food and Drink Technical Operator Apprenticeship Standard (Level 3)

     

    Requirements

    Essential qualifications

    GCSE in:

    • GCSE's inc English & maths (grade 9 to 4 (A* to C))

    Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

    Skills

    • Communication skills
    • Attention to detail
    • Organisation skills
    • Problem solving skills
    • Analytical skills
    • Logical
    • Team working
    • Initiative
    • Patience
    • Desire to learn
    • Develop leadership skills
    • Maintain team motivation

    Other requirements

    You’ll need to be a great team player and communicator, with the motivation to get results and a positive mindset. A demonstrable interest in leadership and being hands on The ability to work as part of a team The desire to learn Willing and able to travel to our Castle Cary site. We require you to be 16+ by the 1st September 2025 You must not have more than 2 years operations experience, prior learning, or qualifications higher than an NVQ Level 3 in operations

    About this company

    Our Mars Petcare division has more than 100,000 Petcare Associates spending their days thinking about the 400 million pets of the world and how to improve their lives through our nutrition, health and services businesses. This includes famous nutrition brands like PEDIGREE® and WHISKAS®. At Mars Petcare, we believe that pets make the world a better place. We work towards our Purpose: A Better World for Pets.

    https://careers.mars.com/uk/en/home (opens in new tab)

    After this apprenticeship

    On successful completion of the Operations Apprenticeship you will have demonstrated leadership skills and the ability to take ownership and accountability for a number of machines, processes or pieces of equipment and carry out complex operational tasks, enabling you to coordinate a team of operational Associates to achieve line KPIs and take the lead in repairing mechanical breakdowns. 

    Ask a question

    The contact for this apprenticeship is:

    BRIDGWATER AND TAUNTON COLLEGE

    The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000285443.

    Apply now

    Closes on Friday 28 February

    When you apply, you’ll be asked to sign in with a GOV.UK One Login. You can create one at the same time as applying for this apprenticeship.

    After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.

    Company’s application instructions

    We are keen for all applicants to demonstrate their full potential. If you require any support or adjustments during the recruitment process for any reason, including those related to a disability please contact us at apprenticesupport@effem.com. Any information you provide will be treated in confidence.