Head of Engineering

Job Title: Head of Engineering

Company Overview: The Airedale Group is the market-leading design, installation, and maintenance provider for commercial kitchens in the UK hospitality and food service industry. We work alongside clients from the initial designs to bespoke fabrication and installation. Coupled with the largest body of professional maintenance engineers in the country, we offer the complete end-to-end solution to our extensive client base. We have long-standing relationships with many of the biggest multi-site brands in the UK.

Job Overview: As the Head of Engineering for field service operations, you will manage a large team of field engineers through your direct reporting line of Technical Managers. Your role will focus on driving continuous improvement in field operations, optimising performance using dashboards, and providing coaching, mentoring, and development to ensure the team is aligned with the company goals. You will also be responsible for ensuring that your team’s performance is continuously monitored and SLA’s are adhered to.

This will be a hybrid working position, with frequent travel across the UK to meet Technical Managers at various sites.

Benefits: Competitive Salary, Company vehicle, and Hybrid/Remote working.

Key Responsibilities:

• Reporting to the Managing Director and working closely with other senior leaders to ensure the engineering function supports broader company objectives.
• Coordinate with other departments (e.g., Scheduling, Technical Support, and Customer Service) to ensure the work carried out by engineers aligns with customer needs.
• Managing a team of Technical Managers, who each lead a team of field engineers.
• Ensure all Technical Managers are equipped with the tools, support, and guidance needed to lead their teams effectively.
• Provide coaching and feedback to improve the performance of your team.
• Promote a performance-driven culture by setting clear KPIs, and career development plans, and maintaining high team morale.
• Support Technical Managers in addressing HR related issues within their teams, including conflict resolution, employee performance issues, and career progression.
• Provide regular reports to the Managing Director on the performance of engineering services, highlighting successes, challenges, and action plans.
• Utilising performance tracking tools to ensure data is collected for accurate reporting and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Working with the internal recruitment department to communicate growth plans within the engineering teams and new vacancy requirements.

Experience Required:

• Engineering background within commercial catering equipment or commercial refrigeration equipment.
• Strong understanding of field service engineering operations, processes, and tools.
• Proven success in developing and mentoring engineering teams.
• Excellent leadership and people management skills, with the ability to promote positive change.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage cross-functional relationships and drive collaboration between teams.
• Results-driven, with a focus on improving efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring high-quality outcomes.

The Airedale Group is expanding rapidly, employing circa 700 people across multiple locations in the UK. This is a fantastic time to be joining the business with opportunities for career progression.