Maintenance and Planning Team Leader

Maintenance Team Leader
Permanent | Darlington | -50,000 - -55,000

About the Role
We are seeking a Maintenance Team Leader to join a growing engineering function, supporting the operational reliability of highly specialised laboratory, manufacturing, and facility assets.
Reporting to the Head of Maintenance, this role will lead a small team responsible for maintaining critical equipment, laboratory infrastructure, and facility systems across the site. You''ll play a key role in ensuring assets remain safe, compliant, and available for scientific and operational teams, while also coordinating external contractors and facilities management providers.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced maintenance professional looking to take the next step into a leadership role, while still remaining technically involved in the day-to-day operation of the site.

What You''ll Be Responsible For
Maintenance Leadership

• Lead and coordinate a team of maintenance technicians and support staff
• Plan, prioritise, and manage planned and reactive maintenance activities
• Support the development of team capability through coaching, mentoring, and training
• Act as a key escalation point for maintenance and reliability issues across the site

Facilities & Equipment Reliability

• Ensure the reliability and availability of laboratory, manufacturing, and facility equipment
• Coordinate maintenance schedules to minimise downtime and maximise operational performance
• Oversee preventative and predictive maintenance programmes
• Support installation, calibration, improvement, and repair activities across site assets

Contractor & Facilities Management

• Work closely with facilities management providers and third-party contractors
• Coordinate infrastructure maintenance and facility improvement activities
• Ensure contractor activities are delivered safely, efficiently, and in line with operational requirements
• Act as the interface between internal teams and external service providers

Operational & Site Support

• Support Heads of Operations and key stakeholders with maintenance planning and technical advice
• Coordinate engineering resources and priorities across the site
• Contribute to maintenance strategy, asset lifecycle planning, and reliability improvements
• Help identify opportunities to improve asset performance and reduce operational costs

Compliance & Continuous Improvement

• Ensure activities are completed in accordance with Health & Safety, quality, and regulatory requirements
• Support maintenance activities within regulated environments, including GMP facilities
• Analyse maintenance data and KPIs to identify trends and improvement opportunities
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance reliability and efficiency

About You
You are an experienced maintenance professional with strong technical knowledge and a proactive approach to leadership and problem solving.
You''ll bring:

• Significant experience in maintenance engineering within a regulated or highly controlled environment
• Experience leading or supervising maintenance teams
• Strong fault-finding and problem-solving capability
• Experience working with both equipment and facility infrastructure
• The ability to prioritise competing demands and coordinate multiple stakeholders
• Excellent communication and planning skills

We are open to candidates from either a mechanical or electrical background.
Particularly desirable experience includes:

• GMP or pharmaceutical manufacturing environments
• Cleanroom facilities
• Steam systems
• Purified water systems
• Building services and critical utilities
• Medical devices, pharmaceutical, life sciences, oil & gas, or similarly regulated industries
• Facilities maintenance and contractor management

The ideal candidate will be hands-on, practical, and able to support both laboratory equipment and facility-related assets while leading a small team and coordinating external providers.

Why Join Us?

• Opportunity to lead maintenance activities across a technically advanced site
• Mix of leadership, engineering, and operational responsibility
• Work within cutting-edge laboratory and manufacturing environments
• Exposure to GMP and advanced therapeutic manufacturing facilities
• Competitive salary of up to -55,000

Location & Working Pattern

• Based primarily in Darlington
• Occasional travel to other UK sites may be required
• Full-time permanent role

The Opportunity
This role is ideal for an experienced maintenance engineer, supervisor, or team leader looking to step into a broader leadership position. You''ll play a critical role in keeping complex scientific and manufacturing environments running effectively while helping shape the future reliability and maintenance strategy of the site

Guidant, Carbon60, Lorien & SRG - The Impellam Group Portfolio are acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.