This is What You'll Actually Do
As Site Engineering Lead, you will:
Lead, motivate, and develop the site engineering team, setting clear expectations and role-modelling the highest standards of health & safety, food safety, quality, behaviour, and performance
Take full ownership of the engineering and maintenance strategy, ensuring all manufacturing assets and infrastructure are maintained to the highest standards of safety, food integrity, quality, and reliability
Deliver a robust Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programme, driving high compliance to maximise uptime, asset reliability, and ongoing food safety and quality assurance
Analyse downtime and performance data, ensuring effective root cause analysis and implementation of sustainable, long-term "100-year fixes" that eliminate safety, food safety, and quality risks
Act as a key contributor to site CAPEX planning and delivery, owning engineering-led capital projects from justification through to execution, ensuring designs meet H&S, food safety, hygiene, and quality standards by design
Manage third-party contractors and suppliers, ensuring all work is delivered safely, on time, within budget, and fully compliant with site safety, food safety, hygiene, and quality standards
Own and control the engineering budget, rigorously challenging spend while ensuring investment supports safe operations, food safety compliance, and quality performance
Develop engineering capability through structured performance management, succession planning, apprenticeship programmes, and targeted development plans, with a strong focus on safe systems of work and food safety awareness
Work cross-functionally as part of the Site Leadership Team, partnering with Operations, Technical, Quality, and Health & Safety to deliver site performance, compliance, and continuous improvement objectives
Champion continuous improvement initiatives, providing strong technical leadership to drive improvements in safety performance, food safety, quality, efficiency, and reliability
Work closely with the Health & Safety Manager to implement, audit, and continuously improve statutory compliance, risk assessments, and safety management systems
Ensure full compliance with all company policies and food safety, hygiene, quality, legal, and statutory requirements, maintaining audit readiness at all times
Define, embed, and continuously improve best-practice engineering processes, systems, and standards that protect people, products, and the brand
Report engineering performance, KPIs, risks, and compliance status to Senior Management in a clear, accurate, and timely manner, with particular focus on H&S, food safety, and quality risks.
Ideally, This is You
Essential:
Degree-qualified in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent NVQ Level 7
Proven experience in a senior engineering management role within the food manufacturing sector.
Strong leadership capability with experience managing, developing, and coaching high-performing teams.
Excellent communication and influencing skills at all levels of the organisation.
Results-driven with the ability to plan, prioritise, and deliver against operational and project deadlines.
Strong commercial awareness with experience managing budgets and controlling costs.
Confident using data, KPIs, and performance metrics to drive improvement.
Competent in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook)
Desirable:
Food Hygiene, HACCP, and Allergen Awareness qualifications.NEBOSH certification.
Project management experience.
Working knowledge of continuous improvement tools and asset optimisation techniques.
Experience producing detailed engineering and process risk assessments.