Engineering Lead - Food Plant

Engineering Lead

Location: Chirk, Clwyd, LL14 5LT
Rate: £53.22ph - £66.61ph Umbrella (Depending on Experience)
Contract: Initial 6-Month Contract
Hours: 36 Hours per Week, Monday to Friday

Engineering Lead | Heavy Process Manufacturing | Lean Transformation | Asset Reliability

CS Technical Recruitment are recruiting for an experienced Engineering Lead to join a key manufacturing facility based in Chirk, Clwyd.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a senior engineering professional to take ownership of engineering operations within a complex and challenging heavy process environment. The successful candidate will lead the site's engineering strategy, drive a preventative maintenance culture, implement Lean principles, and help shape future investment plans for a facility that plays a critical role within the company's wider manufacturing network.

This role would suit an established Engineering Manager, Engineering Lead or Senior Maintenance Manager with experience in food, chemical, packaging, FMCG, automotive or other heavy process manufacturing environments.

About the Site

The Chirk facility is a unique manufacturing operation, acting as one of the first stages of the chocolate manufacturing process.

The site receives and processes cocoa beans, converting them into semi-finished products which are supplied to other manufacturing facilities, as well as producing cocoa powder products for customer distribution.

Operations are split across both process and packaging, with approximately two-thirds of the site focused on processing activities and one-third dedicated to packaging operations.

The manufacturing process includes:

- Cocoa bean handling and storage in silos

- Pasteurisation processes

- Large-scale roasting operations

- Milling, pressing and blending systems

- Automated packing and distribution facilities

The site presents a fascinating engineering challenge, combining modern manufacturing practices with legacy equipment. Some of the original roasting assets date back to the site's opening in 1968, creating a diverse asset base requiring strong engineering leadership, reliability planning and investment strategy.

The Role

As Engineering Lead, you will be responsible for the overall engineering performance of the facility, leading multidisciplinary engineering teams across mechanical, electrical and instrumentation disciplines.

You will drive the site's maintenance transformation programme, moving engineering activities from a reactive approach to a proactive preventative and predictive maintenance culture, whilst championing Lean Manufacturing principles throughout the plant.

You will also play a key role in developing long-term asset management strategies, capital investment roadmaps and business cases to secure future investment across the site.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, coach and develop engineering, maintenance and technical teams
• Manage engineering resource planning and capability development
• Provide technical leadership across complex engineering challenges
• Drive a culture of accountability, engagement and continuous improvement
• Collaborate with Production, Quality, Supply Chain and HSE teams

Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement

• Champion Lean Manufacturing methodologies across the site
• Implement and sustain:
  • TPM
  • 5S
  • Kaizen
  • SMED
  • Value Stream Mapping
  • Root Cause Analysis
• Eliminate waste and improve operational efficiency
• Monitor and improve key metrics including:
  • OEE / Global Efficiency
  • MTBF
  • MTTR

Maintenance Transformation

Continue the transition from reactive to preventative and predictive maintenance

Develop structured maintenance strategies for critical assets

Utilise SAP CMMS to optimise maintenance planning and execution

Introduce and develop condition-based monitoring techniques

Improve equipment reliability and reduce unplanned downtime

Asset Management & CAPEX

Develop site-wide asset management strategies

Lead reliability improvement initiatives

Support equipment upgrades and replacement projects

Develop investment roadmaps and capital expenditure business cases

Balance operational priorities with long-term engineering objectives

Compliance & Safety

Ensure compliance with all relevant health, safety and environmental legislation

Maintain engineering standards, documentation and procedures

Support audit readiness and regulatory compliance activities

Requirements - Essential

Significant engineering leadership experience within manufacturing or process industries

Proven success leading maintenance and reliability improvement programmes

Experience implementing Lean Manufacturing methodologies

Demonstrated success transitioning maintenance strategies from reactive to preventative/predictive approaches

Strong knowledge of CMMS systems, ideally SAP

Experience managing multidisciplinary engineering teams

Strong understanding of asset management and reliability engineering

Ability to influence stakeholders and secure investment for engineering improvement activities

Preferred Industry Backgrounds

Food Manufacturing

FMCG

Chemical Processing

Heavy Manufacturing

Packaging

Automotive Manufacturing

Other complex process environments

Desirable:

Degree qualified in an Engineering discipline

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt

Experience with predictive maintenance technologies

Knowledge of Industry 4.0 and data-driven maintenance strategies

Why Apply?

This is an excellent opportunity to join a site with significant engineering complexity and genuine opportunities to make an impact.

You will inherit a challenging but rewarding environment where you'll be responsible for improving reliability, implementing Lean methodologies, influencing future investment decisions and helping shape the long-term engineering strategy of the facility.

The business is looking for an experienced engineering leader who can quickly understand the operation, build credibility with stakeholders and begin delivering improvements from day one.

Candidates should be comfortable working with an ageing asset base where engineering judgement, strategic thinking and practical problem-solving are critical to success.

Additional Info

• 5 days onsite (non-negotiable)
• Monday to Friday role
• Core hours are 8:00am to 5:00pm with an earlier finish on Fridays
• Flexibility is required when business needs demand
• Initial 6-month contract
• Inside IR35
• Candidates seeking longer-term contract opportunities are encouraged to apply

Recruitment Process

Initial informal Microsoft Teams interview

Followed by a formal onsite interview

To apply, please send your CV quoting reference K1214.

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Please note that our clients are unable to offer visa sponsorship. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

CS Technical Staffing Ltd acts as an Employment Business and an Employment Agency.

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates.