Job Title: Maintenance Team Leader
Salary £40 - £45k
Shift: Monday to Friday 0800-1800
Location: Long Buckby
Employment Type: Permanent
The client feels it’s important to understand this is a new role in an expanding family run business. There is an opportunity to put your own map on the position, systems and processes. This would be very rewarding and allow you to be very influential in how things are done in the future.
Job Purpose
The Maintenance Team Leader is responsible for managing and leading a small maintenance team and external contractors to ensure all production machinery, utilities, and site facilities in a manufacturing/production environment are maintained to the highest standards of safety, quality, and reliability. The role ensures minimal downtime through effective preventative maintenance, rapid response to breakdowns, and strict compliance with food safety and hygiene standards. Please note, this is not a sit behind the desk role! The position is very much a balance of 20% on the tools as and when required, 40% visibility in the field managing staff and contractors and 40% compliance, documentation, health & safety, PPM and associated tasks.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, coordinate, and supervise the maintenance team in delivering planned and reactive maintenance across the site.
- Allocate tasks, monitor progress, and ensure maintenance activities are completed on time and to the required standard.
- Provide hands-on support with fault diagnosis, repair, installation, and servicing of production equipment, utilities, and site services.
- Manage critical spares inventory and liaise with suppliers for parts and services.
- Maintain and improve the Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programme to reduce unplanned downtime.
- Ensure all work is carried out safely, complying with site health & safety policies, risk assessments, permit to work, and legal requirements.
- Conduct root cause analysis and implement corrective actions to improve equipment reliability.
- Maintain accurate records of maintenance work, PPM schedules, work orders, and spare parts usage via CMMS or manual logs.
- Support the site’s Continuous Improvement initiatives, identifying opportunities to enhance equipment performance and efficiency including maintaining stock levels and the ordering of spare parts.
- Liaise effectively with Production, Quality, and other departments to prioritise and plan maintenance work to support production schedules.
- Provide training, coaching, and development to maintenance team members to improve capability and performance.
- Assist with compliance to relevant standards such as BRC, SALSA, ISO, or retailer-specific audits.
Skills and Competencies
- Strong technical knowledge of mechanical and/or electrical maintenance in a food or FMCG manufacturing environment.
- Proven leadership and team management skills.
- Excellent problem-solving and fault-finding ability under pressure.
- Strong understanding of health & safety
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings, manuals, and technical documents.
- Effective communication and interpersonal skills with direct reports and indirect (contractors)
Qualifications and Experience
- Relevant engineering qualification (e.g., NVQ Level 3, City & Guilds, HNC/HND) in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering.
- Hands-on maintenance experience in a food or FMCG production environment.
- Prior experience as a senior engineer, lead technician, or maintenance supervisor/team leader.
- Experience with PPM systems and maintenance best practices in a regulated food production environment.
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement methodologies is an advantage.