Lead Engineer

Lead Engineer - Maintenance Excellence / Continuous Improvement
-55,000
4 on 4 off (Days, 07:00-19:00)


This is a Lead Engineer role for someone who is done with simply keeping things running and is ready to start improving how they run in the first place.

You''ll be leading maintenance excellence and continuous improvement activity in a fast-paced production environment, focusing on reliability, performance and long-term asset health rather than short-term firefighting.
Breakdowns still happen.

The goal here is making them happen less, and for better reasons each time.

What you''ll be doing

• Leading the rollout and embedding of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) principles
• Improving equipment reliability through structured maintenance strategies
• Developing and strengthening planned preventative maintenance (PPM) systems
• Using CMMS data to improve planning, performance and maintenance execution
• Driving continuous improvement across equipment, processes and production losses
• Leading structured problem solving including RCA, 5Y and DMAIC
• Identifying and eliminating repeat failures and chronic downtime issues
• Supporting OEE improvement through data-led decision making
• Developing SOPs and standardised maintenance practices
• Supporting smart factory / reliability system implementation
• Running criticality reviews and maintenance strategy improvements
• Driving 5S and wider continuous improvement culture across engineering
• Supporting inventory and maintenance planning optimisation
• Coaching and developing engineering team members
• Ensuring maintenance schedules are followed through effective planning and resource allocation

What we''re looking for

• Strong engineering background in manufacturing or FMCG environments
• Proven experience in TPM, CI or maintenance excellence roles
• Solid understanding of PPM systems and CMMS platforms (SPIDEX / Mainsaver or similar)
• Experience with reliability engineering principles and asset care strategies
• Strong background in root cause analysis and structured problem solving
• Comfortable working with production and maintenance performance data (OEE)
• Experience leading and developing engineering teams
• Strong communication and coaching skills
• Structured, methodical approach with strong attention to detail

The reality of the role
This is not a reactive maintenance position dressed up with a fancy title.

It suits someone who looks at repeat failures and immediately starts asking why nobody fixed the cause properly the first time. You''ll need to be comfortable moving between strategy, data and shop floor reality without losing credibility in any of them.

If you want predictable days and simple task lists, this will feel frustrating. If you want to actually improve how a site performs, it''s exactly the kind of frustration you''re looking for.