At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead engineering teams and drive improvements in a fast-paced food manufacturing environment.
- Company: Established family-run food manufacturer in Scotland with a focus on innovation.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible working, and opportunities for career growth.
- Other info: Hands-on role with potential for long-term career development.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by enhancing reliability and efficiency in a dynamic setting.
- Qualifications: Experience in engineering management, preferably in food production, with strong leadership skills.
The predicted salary is between 54000 - 54000 £ per year.
Are you a hands-on Senior Engineer or Engineering Manager ready to take ownership of an engineering function? We have an exciting opportunity to join one of Scotland's most established family-run food manufacturers. We are looking for an experienced engineering leader who thrives on driving change, improving reliability, and building a proactive maintenance culture within a busy manufacturing environment.
Working closely with the Head of Production, you'll lead the shift towards a proactive PPM culture while ensuring the factory runs smoothly day to day. We're looking for a hands-on leader who enjoys being close to the operation, supporting the team, and driving improvements in reliability, performance, and engineering standards.
What you will get in your new role
- Salary £54,000 per annum
- Flexible working when needed
- Opportunity to take ownership of engineering function
- Scope to influence reliability, efficiency and engineering standards in a growing food manufacturing business
- Longer-term potential to develop towards a wider group engineering role
- A practical, fast-paced environment where good ideas can be implemented quickly
Responsibilities in your new role as Engineering Manager
- Leading and developing the engineering team, fostering a culture of accountability, ownership, and high performance
- Driving the transition from a reactive maintenance approach to a structured planned maintenance and preventative maintenance (PPM) strategy
- Improving equipment reliability and reducing repeat breakdowns through effective maintenance planning and root cause analysis
- Creating greater visibility of downtime, identifying trends, and implementing corrective actions to minimise operational disruption
- Providing hands-on support during critical breakdowns to ensure production downtime is kept to a minimum
- Overseeing fault-finding, repair, installation, and maintenance activities across electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, refrigeration, and site infrastructure systems
- Managing building and facilities maintenance while ensuring full compliance with health, safety, and regulatory requirements
- Working collaboratively with production teams to identify and eliminate engineering-related constraints, driving measurable efficiency improvements
- Managing engineering inventory, parts procurement, suppliers, and contractors, ensuring cost-effective and value-driven decision making
- Identifying critical equipment and infrastructure risks, building robust business cases for future investment where required
- Establishing clear engineering standards, processes, and performance measures to support long-term operational success
Your personality, experience and qualifications
We're looking for an experienced engineering leader with a proven background in manufacturing environments, ideally within food production. The successful candidate will hold a degree, diploma, apprenticeship, or similar qualification in an engineering discipline, with a preference for mechanical or electrical engineering backgrounds. You will bring:
- Significant experience in an engineering or maintenance management role within a fast-paced manufacturing environment
- Food production experience would be highly advantageous
- Strong hands-on engineering capability, with confidence supporting fault-finding on live production equipment
- A proven track record of developing or improving planned preventative maintenance (PPM) systems
- Demonstrable success in reducing reactive maintenance and improving equipment reliability
- The ability to analyse data effectively to identify downtime trends, root causes, and improvement opportunities
- Strong leadership and communication skills, with experience developing, motivating, and challenging engineering teams
- Experience managing contractors, suppliers, parts procurement, engineering budgets, and compliance requirements
We’re looking for someone who can deliver measurable improvements through practical solutions rather than relying on significant capital investment. You'll thrive in a fast-paced, informal environment where initiative, accountability, and problem-solving are highly valued. This is a genuine player-coach position. You’ll be responsible for setting direction, introducing structure, and maintaining high standards, while remaining closely connected to day-to-day operations and the realities of the factory floor.
Engineering Manager employer: Family Business United
Family Business United is an excellent employer, offering a supportive and friendly work culture that values teamwork and creativity in the kitchen. With flexible daytime hours and a focus on employee well-being, this role provides opportunities for personal growth and skill development while working in a vibrant café bistro environment in Inverclyde.
