Planning & Optimization Manager in Manchester

Better places, thriving communities.

At Mitie, our people are our greatest strength, and our promise is to create a place to work where you can thrive and be your best every day.

The Planning and Optimisation Manager is responsible for developing, coordinating, and optimising all planned maintenance, calibration, and engineering activities across a GMP‑regulated pharmaceutical manufacturing site. The role ensures that equipment and utilities remain compliant, reliable, and available to support uninterrupted production. This position acts as the central link between Engineering, Production, Quality, and external vendors to ensure all work is executed safely, efficiently, and in alignment with regulatory expectations.

Role Responsibilities:

• Maintenance Planning — Build and manage detailed preventive and predictive maintenance schedules for production equipment, utilities, and critical GMP systems
• Work Order Management — Review, prioritise, and prepare work orders, ensuring all materials, permits, and documentation are ready before execution
• GMP Compliance — Ensure all planned activities meet regulatory requirements, including data integrity, traceability, and proper documentation in CMMS systems
• CMMS Administration — Maintain asset records, job plans, BOMs, and maintenance histories within the site's Computerised Maintenance Management System
• Engineering Coordination — Collaborate with technicians, engineers, and production teams to plan shutdowns, calibrations, and equipment overhauls
• Vendor Management — Schedule and coordinate external contractors, ensuring compliance with site safety and quality standards
• Spare Parts Planning — Work with the stores team to ensure critical spares availability and accurate inventory levels
• Continuous Improvement — Analyse maintenance performance data to identify reliability improvements and optimise maintenance strategies
• Risk & Impact Assessment — Support risk assessments, deviation investigations, and change control activities related to engineering work

Required Qualifications:

• Engineering Background — HNC/HND or degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or related engineering discipline
• Pharma or GMP Experience — Experience in a regulated pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical device environment
• CMMS Proficiency — Hands‑on experience with systems such as SAP PM, Maximo, or Blue Mountain
• Technical Understanding — Knowledge of process equipment, utilities (HVAC, WFI, clean steam), and calibration requirements
• Planning & Scheduling Skills — Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage complex, multi‑department schedules
• Communication Skills — Ability to work cross‑functionally and communicate clearly with technical and non‑technical stakeholders

There's a place for you at Mitie, join us today!

Our market-leading offering provides you with benefits that suit your lifestyle. We have a virtual GP on hand for you and members of your household. So you can get expert advice by video or phone without having to leave your home. We offer financial wellbeing assistance through our Salary Finance scheme. For example, you could access 50% of your earned pay before payday for a small fee. Salary Finance also offers competitive loans.

When you join us, we’ll give you a link to our flexible lifestyle benefits platform, Choices. You might choose to purchase up to five extra days’ holiday each year. You might buy critical illness insurance, seek dental treatment or buy technology products at an affordable cost. There are many choices!

We give you access to high street discounts from thousands of well-known retailers, gyms and more through our MiDeals platform. And we have a cycle-to-work scheme. Life cover of up to four times your salary is available. We also offer enhanced pension contributions, a save-as-you-earn scheme, and a Mitie Matching Share Plan (you could even be awarded free shares in Mitie).

We award our employees with Mitie Stars as recognition for their hard work. There are cash prizes up for grabs each month and at the end of the year there’s a chance to scoop a top prize of £10,000!

Our success is a direct result of the experience and quality of our people. Progressing your career is therefore a top priority for us. We offer a diverse variety of training and development avenues via a wide selection of learning resources to suit you.

Since 1987, Mitie’s 80,000 employees have been maintaining companies globally. We are the UK’s leading facilities management and professional services company, and our clients range from household names in banking, critical government sites as well as hospitals and schools.

Join our Mitie Team. Together our diversity makes us stronger.