Engineering Manager

We are working with a long-established, quality-led food and drink manufacturer to appoint an Engineering Manager for a key production site in Yorkshire.

This is a site engineering leadership role and a key member of the Senior Leadership Team. You would be responsible for ensuring the reliability of plant and equipment while leading a safe, compliant and efficient engineering function.

The business has a strong heritage, a loyal workforce and a culture that is proud, practical and non-corporate. We are looking for someone who can bring structure and improvement without comprising the strong culture that already exists.

The role

You will lead the site engineering function, taking responsibility for asset reliability, planned maintenance, statutory compliance, contractor control, engineering performance and continuous improvement.

Key areas of focus will include:

• Improving plant and equipment reliability through robust planned maintenance, condition monitoring and root cause analysis.
• Developing engineering KPIs around OEE, MTBF, MTTR, planned vs reactive maintenance and engineering cost.
• Leading, coaching and developing a small engineering team.
• Ensuring safe systems of work, including Permit to Work, contractor control and LOTO.
• Maintaining engineering compliance across PUWER, DSEAR and relevant statutory requirements.
• Supporting audit readiness and food/drink manufacturing standards.
• Leading engineering input into capital projects, including significant site investment and automation work.
• Driving improvements in energy efficiency, utilities, sustainability and site infrastructure.

The person

Food, drink, or wider FMCG experience would be ideal, but broader manufacturing experience will be considered if you understand fast-moving production, quality-led processes and the need to keep equipment running safely and consistently.

You should bring:

• Proven engineering leadership experience in a production or manufacturing environment.
• Strong maintenance, reliability and asset-care capability.
• Experience improving planned maintenance and reducing repeat failures.
• Good knowledge of engineering compliance, including PUWER, DSEAR, PTW and LOTO.
• Credibility with hands-on engineers, operators, senior leaders and external contractors.
• Experience delivering or supporting capital projects.
• A practical, calm and collaborative leadership style.

This will suit someone who wants influence, ownership and visibility in a business where engineering is becoming more central to operational performance.