Lead Technician

Business area: Nestle Beverage

Location: Dalston, Cumbria

Salary: £64,631.76 (inclusive of shift allowance and contractual overtime)

Shift pattern: 4 on, 4 off – 12-hour shifts (Days & Nights)

Some of our other fantastic benefits:

• Potential, discretionary annual bonus
• Generous pension scheme – up to 12% contribution from Nestle
• 12 flexible days on top of 25-day holiday entitlement
• 2 paid volunteering days

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Lead Technician to join our maintenance team at our state-of-the-art Coffee manufacturing plant in Dalston, Cumbria.

You will play a key role in the implementation and execution of the factory asset maintenance programme aimed to eliminate unplanned stops and optimise maintenance cost. This role will also be responsible for the direct leadership of the engineering shift team. Through effective shift management, you will prioritise work requirements to minimise machinery downtime and ensure maximum use of resources both reactively and proactively.

Nestlé Dalston Factory in Cumbria is the European Centre for cappuccino and creamers producing a range of beverage products. These are produced through a highly automated PLC controlled process plant and automated filling and packing lines. It is continually developing and expanding leading brands such as Nescafé, Aero Hot Chocolate and Coffee-mate. The factory is moving forward with continuous improvement principles and actively developing Lean/TPM processes so it’s an exciting time to be involved. We take pride in championing inclusion and diversity.

Your impact:

Your day-to-day responsibilities will include but not be limited to:

• Manage existing assets: Through both planned and reactive maintenance. You will also provide input for annual maintenance budget as well reporting and tracking of the maintenance work order costs.
• Build Engineering Capability: Participate in the competence building plan (CBP) for the maintenance team. Develop maintenance methodologies competencies within Engineering. It will also be key to build up AMM (Asset Maintenance Manager) competencies as part of the Engineering Supporting team technical development plans and goals to progress their own, and teams technical competence.
• Define and adhere to standards: Your role will be to maintain current standards but also implement new standards within the Engineering department. You will work closely with the Factory Engineering and production teams as well the site Health and Safety team to ensure standardisation and compliance across the site.

Your ingredients for success:

The ideal candidate for this role will have experience in engineering (maintenance, industrial, services, E&A) preferably in FMCG related manufacturing environment.

You will also preferably meet the following criteria:

• Be educated to NVQ Level 3 in an Engineering discipline and/or have completed a time served apprenticeship – Essential.
• Experience working on CAPEX projects is desirable.
• Strong knowledge and experience of Asset Maintenance Management.
• Experience using SAP.

What you need to know:

Advert posting date: 29/04/2026

Advert closing date: 13/05/2026

We will be considering candidates as they apply and we will occasionally close job advertisements early in the event we receive sufficient applicants, so please don’t delay in submitting your application.

At Nestlé, our values are rooted in respect and we believe that embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive environment allows everyone to reach their full potential and drives innovative thinking. We strongly encourage applications from individuals of all gender identities, ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities, parents, carers and members of the LGBT+ community. Please let us know if we can provide accommodations to ensure your full participation in the application process.

Right to work in the UK: In accordance with Home Office guidance successful candidates will be required to evidence their right to work in the UK before commencement of employment. We have assessed this role and do not consider that we would be able to sponsor a successful candidate under the Skilled Worker route as the role does not meet the relevant Home Office criteria; the successful candidate therefore must be able to demonstrate their own right to work during the recruitment process without Nestlé sponsorship.