Plant Maintenance Leadership Role
This challenging opportunity exists for a highly skilled and experienced Maintenance Manager to lead our engineering function across a large-scale production site.
The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership skills, the ability to manage multiple workstreams, and expertise in planned maintenance systems and engineering best practices.
Key Responsibilities:
* Lead the on-site Maintenance function, driving engineering excellence across performance, reliability, and cost control.
* Manage a large engineering team and external contractors, delivering on key performance indicators (KPIs) related to planned maintenance, reactive repairs, continuous improvement, and capital projects.
* Provide operational direction for the Maintenance function, cascading and delivering performance targets and key objectives at both site and group levels.
* Oversee planned preventative maintenance (PPM) schedules to minimize downtime and improve equipment longevity.
* React swiftly and effectively to unplanned breakdowns, ensuring minimal disruption to production.
* Monitor maintenance costs, operate within defined parameters, and seek authorization for expenditure in line with group policies.
* Allocate and manage internal and external resources, including contractors, based on capability, skill, and specialism.
* Manage contractor relationships, overseeing service-level agreements (SLAs), cost control, and quality of service with regular communication to the Site Operations and Group Engineering Managers.
* Lead maintenance improvement initiatives to reduce equipment failure rates and increase plant reliability.
* Drive compliance with food safety standards during all engineering activity.
* Ensure KPIs are accurately measured, tracked, analyzed, and improved through actionable plans.
* Lead a culture of continuous improvement through modern engineering and maintenance practices.
* Develop and manage team rosters and shift cover plans to meet production needs.
* Own the Engineering Stores function, ensuring spare parts availability and stock control systems are optimized.
* Liaise with Procurement on ordering, stock levels, and repair part availability.
* Lead and participate in site visits, audits, and inspections, ensuring maintenance processes meet all required standards.
* Ensure all departmental documentation, reports, and work orders are completed in full and on time.
* Build a high-performing, motivated engineering team through regular performance reviews, coaching, and development.
* Ensure team compliance with SOPs, HACCP, health & safety, training, and quality systems.
* Represent the engineering function at site management meetings, providing updates and driving cross-functional collaboration.
* Own and submit all capital project requirements related to engineering and support site-wide capital projects.
* Host weekly engineering meetings with clear action tracking and resolution planning.
We Are Looking For:
* A senior engineer or maintenance manager with 5+ years of experience in a manufacturing environment (ideally food or FMCG).
* Time-served or third-level qualification in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering (or a related discipline).
* Demonstrated experience managing large engineering teams and external contractors.
* Track record of delivering large-scale technical projects in complex industrial settings.
* Strong knowledge of planned maintenance systems, engineering best practices, and reliability strategies.
* Proficient in performance analysis, KPI management, and cost control.
* Excellent communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
* Strong people management capabilities, able to mentor, coach, and inspire high performance.
* Proactive mindset with the ability to prioritize tasks and manage multiple workstreams.
* Strong IT literacy, including maintenance management systems, MS Office, and reporting tools.