Engineering Manager / Plant Manager Designate

Overview

Engineering Manager / Plant Manager Designate – Cement Manufacturing (Succession Role)

£Very Competitive + Car Allowance, Bonus & Benefits

Midlands, UK

Career-defining leadership and succession opportunity for an ambitious Engineering or Operations professional within the cement or heavy process manufacturing sector.

Our client is a leading player within the building materials and process manufacturing industry, operating a strategically important integrated plant in the Midlands, UK. This newly created position has been designed as a succession role, providing a defined development pathway into a future Plant Manager position. It represents an outstanding opportunity for a high-potential leader with strong engineering, operational and people management capability who is ready to take on the next step in their career.

The Role

• Provide leadership and strategic direction for all engineering and maintenance activities across the integrated cement manufacturing site.
• Drive asset reliability, performance optimisation and engineering excellence across mechanical, electrical and reliability functions.
• Lead, coach and develop a multidisciplinary team, instilling a culture of collaboration, safety and continuous improvement.
• Oversee maintenance planning, stores, and procurement, ensuring world-class performance standards.
• Contribute to the site\’s long-term strategic plan, working closely with the Plant Manager and executive leadership to deliver operational and sustainability goals.
• Champion innovation and support a major decarbonisation investment programme, ensuring the plant remains at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing.
• Act as a key member of the site leadership team, actively participating in cross-functional decision-making and business transformation.

The Ideal Candidate

• Degree educated in Engineering or similar discipline (Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical or Process).
• Strong leadership track record within cement, lime, aggregates or another continuous heavy process sector.
• Proven success leading large multi-discipline teams (30+ staff) and managing £multi-million OPEX and CAPEX budgets.
• Exposure to modern maintenance practices (reliability-centred maintenance, condition monitoring, CMMS such as SAP).
• Demonstrable success in continuous improvement, asset care, and operational efficiency.
• Strategic and commercially astute with excellent stakeholder management skills.
• A motivated and ambitious individual ready to progress to a full Plant Manager role within 2-4 years.

Application Questions

• Are you degree educated in Engineering (BEng, MEng, BSc, MSc or MBA)?
• Do you have experience leading engineering or operations in cement, lime or heavy process manufacturing?
• Have you led multi-discipline maintenance teams and managed CAPEX projects?
• Are you looking for a defined succession pathway into Plant Manager level leadership?
• Are you located in or open to relocation to the Midlands, UK?

To apply, please email your CV quoting reference LX3480803 to