Join Our Pack 🐶🍽️
From a bold idea to revolutionising dog food, Years has grown into a fast-scaling business dedicated to helping dogs live longer, healthier lives.
In just 3 years, we’ve built a great start up business, serving thousands of happy customers, all while striving to achieve our mission.
Our goal? To give dog owners a better, fresher, and healthier way to feed their pets. We provide human cut, personalised meals designed to support each dog’s unique needs, delivered straight to their door - no preservatives, no compromises, just real nutrition.
You can find our customers across the UK, with future ambitions to scale internationally and continue transforming how people care for their dogs.
Your Mission:
As our Engineering Manager, you’ll build and lead the engineering function at a fast-scaling food production business - taking full ownership of reliability, maintenance strategy, and engineering standards across the site.
This is a rare opportunity to step into a leadership role where you’re not inheriting a legacy system - you’re building it. From day one, you’ll shape how engineering operates: designing preventative maintenance systems, setting standards, building a team, and creating the infrastructure required to support production at scale.
You’ll balance hands-on problem solving with strategic thinking - driving down downtime, improving equipment performance, and implementing systems that move the business from reactive firefighting to proactive, data-led engineering.
If you’re someone who takes pride in building high-performing teams, enjoys solving complex operational problems, and wants to leave a lasting mark on a growing business - this role gives you that platform.
What You’ll Be Responsible For:
* Build, recruit, and lead the Engineering team - setting clear standards, structure, and daily direction
* Design and implement a preventative maintenance (PPM) and asset care programme from the ground up
* Own and improve engineering KPIs - downtime, MTTR, MTBF, and PPM adherence
* Lead reactive and proactive engineering activity to maximise equipment reliability
* Drive continuous improvement projects to reduce downtime and improve line performance
* Oversee installation, commissioning, and optimisation of new machinery and upgrades
* Ensure full compliance with health & safety and food manufacturing standards
* Manage engineering budget, contractor relationships, and supplier sourcing
* Build and maintain an organised, well-equipped workshop and spares system
* Work closely with Production, NPD, and Operations on trials, automation, and scale-up initiatives
* Embed a culture of accountability, safety, and engineering excellence
Requirements
What You’ll Bring:
* Strong mechanical and electrical engineering background within a production or manufacturing environment
* Proven experience leading or stepping into a leadership role within engineering
* Experience building or running preventative maintenance (PPM) systems
* Solid understanding of production equipment - conveyors, mixers, weighers, chillers, packaging lines
* Exposure to automation and PLC-controlled systems
* Experience managing budgets, contractors, and external suppliers
* Strong understanding of health & safety within a food or regulated environment
* Flexibility - there may be some evening and weekend work required based on project requirements (agreed directly with Line Management where needed)
How You Work:
* You take ownership - you don’t wait for systems, you build them
* You’re hands-on when needed but think strategically about long-term improvements
* You prioritise effectively and stay calm under pressure
* You communicate clearly across teams and bring people with you
* You set high standards and build a culture that reflects them
* You’re driven by continuous improvement and measurable results
Benefits
What’s In It For You? Years Benefits
* £55,000 - £65,000 PA
* Medicash Cash Back programme
* Annual £250.00 Learning & Development budget for courses, books or other self-learn activities
* Access to Spill EAP and Mental Wellbeing support
* Annual £200.00 Wellbeing budget
* Up to 2 weeks working abroad per year (selected roles)
* Monthly recognition through our Yappa of The Month programme
* 1 Volunteer day per year - dog themed or not: it’s your choice!
* Subsidised employee groups - from five a side to padel there’s loads to get involved in or the chance to start up your own group
* Exclusive discounts on Years and Years treats for yourself and friends/family
* Lunch & Learn programme - from dog first aid to financial savviness we’ve got sessions planned to cover all kinds of topics
* Casual dress
* Your birthday off or different day if it falls on a non-working day
* Ability to sell any unused holiday back to Years at the end of the Holiday Year (maximum 1 working week)