Senior Maintenance Engineer in Jarrow

A long-established food manufacturing business is seeking a Senior Maintenance Engineer (Mechanical Bias) to join its team at a key production facility in South Tyneside. The company supplies high-quality products to major retailers and foodservice customers and is continuing to invest in new equipment, facilities, and engineering infrastructure.

This role offers an exciting opportunity for an experienced engineer to take ownership of maintenance performance, drive improvements to engineering systems, and play a hands-on role in ensuring operational reliability across plant and facilities.

The Role

The Senior Maintenance Engineer will lead on both day-to-day maintenance activity and longer-term engineering improvements. Responsibilities include maintaining production machinery, overseeing facilities maintenance, and driving the overhaul of the site's CMMS and Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) strategy.

This position suits a mechanically biased engineer with strong FMCG or manufacturing experience who is comfortable working both strategically and hands-on.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintenance & Engineering Operations
  • Conduct planned, preventative, and reactive maintenance on production plant and site facilities.
  • Diagnose and repair mechanical issues across processing, packaging, and material-handling equipment.
  • Support basic electrical maintenance tasks within competency.
  • Minimise downtime through effective fault-finding and quick response.
  • Lead root-cause analysis and develop long-term engineering solutions.
• CMMS & PPM Leadership
  • Overhaul and improve the site's Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS).
  • Develop and manage a refined and fully optimised PPM schedule.
  • Maintain accurate asset registers, engineering records, and audit-ready documentation.
  • Use maintenance data to drive efficiency, reliability, and proactive engineering culture.
• Contractor & Compliance Management
  • Manage and coordinate external contractors, ensuring safe working practices.
  • Review and approve RAMS (Risk Assessments & Method Statements).
  • Ensure adherence to H&S legislation, food safety standards, and site policies.
  • Support audits and follow-up actions relating to engineering compliance.
• Facilities & Site Services
  • Oversee maintenance of utilities including refrigeration, boilers, air handling and water systems.
  • Maintain and improve building fabric, infrastructure, and site services.
  • Collaborate with suppliers and contractors on facilities upgrades and improvements.

Skills & Experience Required

Essential

• Time-served Maintenance Engineer with a strong mechanical background.
• Experience within manufacturing, FMCG, food production, or similar environments.
• Proven track record of improving CMMS and PPM systems.
• Strong understanding of mechanical systems (pneumatics, hydraulics, rotating machinery, conveyors).
• Competent interpreting mechanical drawings and schematics.
• Experienced in contractor management and RAMS approval.
• Strong fault-finding, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Able to work autonomously and take ownership of engineering standards.

Desirable

• Basic electrical knowledge (motors, sensors, controls, general fault-finding).
• Understanding of food-sector compliance (HACCP, hygiene, regulatory standards).
• Experience leading small teams or acting as a senior point of contact.
• Continuous improvement mindset (Lean, Kaizen, 5S).

What's on Offer

• Competitive salary of £50,000–£55,000
• Monday–Friday day shift
• Flexibility for occasional call-outs
• A role with real ownership over engineering systems and site reliability
• Supportive environment with opportunities to influence ongoing investment and improvement
• Long-term development within a growing organisation