Reliability & Projects Planning Engineer Drive Improvements

Newcastle upon Tyne, England, North East

Permanent Position

Salary - £48k - £55k DOE

Dayshift Monday - Friday

Essential Qualifications

• HNC Level (or equivalent) in Mechanical Engineering
• Educated to degree Level or equivalent in Mechanical Engineering

Job Purpose

As Reliability, Projects and Planning Engineer, you will work closely with the departmental management team to ensure full compliance with company policies, legislative requirements, and operational standards. You will be responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of maintenance activities and site assets, identifying opportunities for improvement, and implementing adjustments to optimise performance. The role supports the achievement of company KPIs by driving best practice maintenance strategies, maintaining a comprehensive planned works library, and developing actionable improvement plans. You will lead and coach Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) initiatives to strengthen our root cause analysis culture, ensuring lessons learned are effectively implemented and communicated across the site.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong understanding of continuous improvement tools and methodologies.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in a supervisory capacity.
• Sound knowledge of HSE and Quality systems and their practical application.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively across departments.
• Experience working within a manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

• Operate in full compliance with all company policies and procedures (Health & Safety, Quality, HR, Environmental) and ensure the shift and day maintenance teams do the same.
• Ensure adherence to Quality and Environmental standards (including ISO 14001) and all relevant legislation (HSE, COSHH, waste regulations, etc.).
• Demonstrate strong, positive leadership with a professional and approachable management style, maintaining an open-door policy.
• Monitor, review, and improve maintenance processes to ensure performance meets agreed KPIs (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost).
• Support the Maintenance Foreman in developing team capability, identifying training needs, coordinating training plans, and auditing training records.
• Promote and actively participate in continuous improvement initiatives, embedding sustainable best operational practices.
• Administer and audit the site permit-to-work system to ensure safe working practices in line with site regulations.
• Ensure all planned maintenance activities are appropriate, current, and effective, Plan shutdowns.
• Prioritise workloads, and coordinate both internal teams and contractors.
• Develop and maintain a structured job plan library within Agility PM to ensure safe and efficient execution of high-frequency maintenance tasks.
• Continuously review and update job plans, incorporating improvements and grouping similar tasks to maximise efficiency and resource & Asset Management.
• Analyse maintenance performance data to identify trends and improvement opportunities.
• Lead root cause failure analysis meetings and coordinate implementation of corrective actions.
• Lead and facilitate equipment FMEA studies and ensure agreed actions are delivered.
• Define and implement optimised maintenance strategies.
• Coach the maintenance team to embed root cause analysis into day-to-day activities.
• Provide reliability input into design and project engineering activities, promoting best-in-class standards through the Equipment Modification Request (EMR) process.
• Support troubleshooting activities and review emergency work to improve long-term reliability.
• Work with the spare parts provider to optimise stock levels, identifying critical and strategic spares.
• Oversee trials of alternative spare/process parts, suppliers, and designs.
• Raise purchase orders for materials, spare parts, tools, and external services as required.
• Provide support across other company sites when required.