Job description
Maintenance Lead
Location: Birkhill
Department: Operations
Reports to: General Manager
Lead Engineering Excellence. Drive Reliability. Make an Impact.
We are looking for an experienced and hands-on Maintenance Lead to join our team at our Birkhill manufacturing site. This is an exciting opportunity for an engineering professional who thrives on leading people, solving technical challenges, and driving continuous improvement within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
As Maintenance Lead, you will be responsible for the overall maintenance strategy and day-to-day engineering operations, ensuring our plant, machinery and facilities operate safely, efficiently and reliably. You'll lead a skilled maintenance team while remaining actively involved in practical engineering activities, making this an ideal role for someone who enjoys balancing leadership with hands-on problem solving.
What You'll Be Doing
As our Maintenance Lead, you will:
- Lead and develop the site's maintenance team, creating a positive, high-performing and safety-focused culture.
- Deliver proactive and reactive maintenance to maximise plant reliability and minimise downtime.
- Develop and continually improve our Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programme using our Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS).
- Lead engineering projects, equipment upgrades and site improvement initiatives.
- Analyse equipment performance, identify root causes of failures and implement long-term solutions.
- Ensure statutory inspections, servicing and engineering compliance are completed on time.
- Manage maintenance budgets, engineering purchasing and spare parts inventory.
- Work closely with Production, Planning, Quality and Group Engineering to optimise operational performance.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives that improve efficiency, reliability and cost performance.
- Ensure compliance with Health & Safety legislation and engineering standards, including PUWER, LOLER, PSSR, ATEX and DSEAR.
What We're Looking For
We're looking for someone who combines strong technical knowledge with excellent leadership skills.
Essential
- HNC/HND (or equivalent) in Mechanical, Electrical or Engineering.
- Significant maintenance experience within manufacturing, industrial or process environments.
- Previous experience leading or supervising engineering or maintenance teams.
- Strong fault-finding, problem-solving and engineering diagnostic skills.
- Experience managing Planned Preventative Maintenance programmes and CMMS systems.
- Knowledge of statutory engineering compliance and Health & Safety legislation.
- Excellent planning, organisational and communication skills.
- A proactive, hands-on approach with the ability to lead by example.
Desirable
- Degree in an Engineering discipline.
- NEBOSH or IOSH Managing Safely qualification.
- Multi-skilled engineering background.
- Experience with steam systems and boilers (BOMSA).
- Experience within feed manufacturing, agriculture, food production or other process industries.
- Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement or Project Management qualifications.