About The Role
AO is known as the destination for electricals, but we’re also one of the UK’s biggest recyclers of fridges and other Large Domestic Appliances (LDAs). We turn old fridges, washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers into valuable resources.
Our recycling plant sets a new standard in recovering metals, plastics, and gases. The whole process is fully automated and done using a series of screens, magnetic separators, and air classifiers. Pretty cool, right?
Are you an experienced engineering leader ready to take the next step in your career? AO Recycling is looking for an Assistant Engineering Manager to help drive maintenance excellence, improve asset performance, and support the continued growth of our state-of-the-art recycling operations. If you’re passionate about reliability, motivated by leading people, and excited by technical challenges, this role is your chance to make a real impact.
As our Assistant Engineering Manager, you’ll play a key role in ensuring the safe, effective, and efficient delivery of all maintenance and engineering activities on site.
You’ll lead a team of Maintenance Supervisors and Technicians, ensuring maintenance is well-planned, well-executed, and supports our Lean Reliability Centred Maintenance (LRCM) strategy. You’ll be a technical expert, supporting the team through breakdowns, urgent priorities, and engineering challenges.
This is a hands-on leadership role where you’ll influence decision-making, support continuous improvement, and help drive equipment performance across our fast-paced recycling operation.
Here's What You Can Expect To Be Doing
1. Lead, manage and develop a team of 16 colleagues - making sure they’re engaged and always performing to their best
2. Work closely with the Engineering Manager to deliver the strategic engineering plan
3. Planning, prioritising, and allocating maintenance work using the CMMS system
4. Ensuring all PPE, safe operating procedures, and lock-out/tag-out processes are followed
5. Acting as the technical lead, supporting breakdowns and urgent issues
6. Ensuring plant equipment is optimised, modified, and improved to maximise uptime
7. Overseeing contractors and ensuring safe, compliant, and high-standard work
8. Managing stores, ensuring critical parts availability and excellent housekeeping
9. Supporting Root Cause Analysis and driving improvement activities
10. Providing maintenance performance updates to the Engineering Manager
11. Attending daily operational reviews and working closely with production teams
12. Supporting performance reviews, development, and competency assessments of Engineers
13. Ensuring adherence to all company policies, procedures, and H&S standards
A Few Things About You
You’re an experienced and qualified engineer, with mechanical or electrical bias, and knowledge across lots of different areas. We’ll also need you to have:
14. Experience working in a production, or manufacturing environment.
15. A desire to learn about the machinery and equipment we use here at AO Recycling, and really understand it’s purpose
16. Great communication and people skills - making sure everyone is working to their full potential, motivating others, and engaging people across the business
17. An understanding of proactive maintenance strategies.
18. Knowledge of CMMS systems, electrical/mechanical systems, and safe isolation procedures
19. Experience leading engineering tasks or teams
20. Excellent organisation skills, with the ability to plan your own workload and those of others (including external suppliers)
21. Comfortable operating in a fast‑paced environment where new tasks can arise unexpectedly and require immediate attention
22. Proactive and calm under pressure, maintaining accuracy and sound judgement even when dealing with high volumes of work
A Bit About Us
We’re big on appliances and electricals, REALLY big. Washing machines, fridge freezers and TVs? They’re our bread and butter. Mobiles, Airwraps and Ring doorbells? Yep, those too. If it plugs in, powers up or makes life easier, AO probably has it.
But we’re more than that… For over 25 years, trust has been at the heart of everything we do, helping us become the UK’s most trusted electrical retailer. Our customers rate us 4.9 on Trustpilot from nearly ONE MILLION reviews and more 5-star ratings than any other UK electrical retailer, because they know they can rely on us and it’s the exact same for our AOers too.
We truly believe it’s more than just a job, we genuinely care about each other and our impact on making our customers lives easier, by helping them brilliantly. Everyone here knows how their role makes a difference. Our people are our superpower, so, when it comes to finding new AOers, we know it’s about more than just a CV, it’s about what makes you, YOU.
Our Benefits
Our benefits are designed to cover the moments that matter to AOers. From health and wellness to giving back - you’ll be rewarded inside and outside of work.
• Holidays; 25 days holiday
• Pension; Contribute 5% of your annual salary and we'll do the same, giving you a little extra support for the future.
• Be a VIP at the AO Arena; we have loads of opportunities to win free tickets and pre-sale access!
• Health & wellbeing; discounted gym membership, and our Help @ Hand scheme giving you access to virtual GP’s, Mental Health support and much more.
• Discounts; exclusive discounts across our product range.
• Family leave; Enhanced Maternity, Paternity and Adoption leave.
• Making a difference; 2 fully paid days a year to donate your time to any charity of your choice.
• Free Food Thursday - Last Thursday of every month, lunch is on us as a way of saying thank you for your efforts!
To see all our benefits and perks, visit our AO Benefits page.