Lead Maintenance Engineer

Who are we, and what do we do?

You may not have heard of us, but there’s a good chance you’ve enjoyed our products. Avara Foods is one of the UK’s leading food businesses, supplying chicken and turkey to the country’s major supermarkets and well-known restaurants.

We own and manage our entire supply chain, from farms to factory and all the way to the customer door - meaning we have careers that cover a whole range of functions. We have major processing sites across England and Wales, and an agricultural network of over 350 farms, spanning from North Yorkshire to the South Coast and Wales.

Our advanced manufacturing site in Telford, is one of our main processing facilities, processing up to 1.5 million birds per week. There are over 1,200 talented people employed at our Telford site, helping us to deliver high quality products to our customers and making the business a trusted leader in fresh foods.

We’ve recently invested £2.3 million in technology and equipment, making it one of the most advanced food manufacturing facilities in the UK.

Are you passionate about Engineering? Looking for a new challenge? Do you have experience as an Engineer?

As an inclusive, forward-thinking business, we take pride in our approach to investing in our people across Avara Foods and are looking for a highly competent and motivated Lead Maintenance Engineer to join our Engineering Team, based at our Telford site.

The role is mainly factory based so you’ll be working in a fast-paced, dynamic FMCG factory environment which is noisy and refrigerated in some areas, manufacturing short shelf life products where hygiene standards are critical. As a Lead Maintenance Engineer you’ll be working 4040 days and nights,  and .

As a Lead Maintenance Engineer, you will, deputise for the shift manager, lead the team of shift engineers, optimise machinery output and product quality, and minimise plant downtime through effective preventative maintenance, efficient breakdown response in specific area of the factory whilst maintaining a safe and healthy environment and promoting good engineering practice.

• Mentor to Level 1/ 2 / 3 Maintenance Engineers as well as Apprentices.
• Timely reporting of any Health and Safety, Animal Welfare and Environmental Issues
• Follow the communicated escalation route for unscheduled plant downtime and minimise downtime by following a good engineering practice.
• Demonstrate technical problem-solving techniques to identify root cause of issues.
• Raise Stock and Non-Stock request forms.
• Responsible for on-shift Engineering performance of fast-moving production line and wider factory Engineering activities with due consideration for safe plant operations. Assessing all aspects of maintenance procedures, ensuring a safe working environment at all times.
• Understanding of engineering and operational KPI’s and be able to identify areas for improvement.
• To ensure equipment is set up ready for shift start, performs at required output and ensure lines are shut down correctly. Ensure attendance at all SICs during the shift period.
• Must be familiar with process machinery or equivalent equipment and have the ability to fault find.
• Accountable for allocating and recording stock used in support of machinery.
• Maintain the Workshop and outside areas to high standard and satisfactory feedback is received from GMP audits.
• Make improvements in general area standards (link to Health & Safety Action Tracker, Technical Action Tracker)
• Identify the training needs of the Shift in order to coach, train and develop the team.
• Review data on equipment effectiveness, review PMs and coordinate inclusion of jobs on weekend or daily plans
• Communicate and collaborate with other colleagues, suppliers and contractors
• Lead and support improvements projects and initiatives
• Production of Engineering Shift Report
• Issuing of permits through SINICA and Contractor Management while on-site.

• Time served multi-skilled engineering apprentice with at least 5…