Lead Maintenance Engineer

Location: Wednesbury

Lead Maintenance Engineer £65,000 | Monday–Friday Rotating Shifts | Food Manufacturing | Tipton Lead Engineering Excellence in a Market-Leading Food Manufacturing Business Are you an experienced Maintenance Engineer ready to step into a highly visible leadership position? Or an established Lead Engineer looking for your next challenge with a respected food manufacturer?

We are seeking a Lead Maintenance Engineer to join the engineering leadership team at a well-established and highly successful food manufacturing site in Tipton. This is a fantastic opportunity to take ownership of maintenance operations, lead a team of engineers, and play a key role in driving reliability, performance, and continuous improvement across a fast-paced production environment.

Working closely with the Technical Engineering Manager, you will be responsible for delivering engineering excellence across planned and reactive maintenance activities while developing a proactive maintenance culture that supports operational success.

What's on Offer?
£65,000 annual salary

Monday to Friday rotating shifts

5:00am – 2:00pm

1:00pm – 10:00pm

9:00pm – 6:00am

Join a respected and growing food manufacturing business

Significant leadership and decision-making responsibility

Opportunity to influence maintenance strategy and site reliability

Long-term career development and progression opportunities

Stable ambient production environment

The Role As Lead Maintenance Engineer, you will take full ownership of engineering activities during your shift, ensuring maintenance resources are effectively deployed to maximise equipment reliability and production performance.

Key Responsibilities Engineering Leadership & Shift Management
Lead and coordinate engineering activities from shift handover to handover

Allocate engineering resources across planned and reactive maintenance tasks

Act as the primary engineering contact for production teams

Monitor plant performance and prioritise maintenance response activities

Manage shift attendance and escalate staffing concerns when required

Ensure compliance with Permit to Work procedures and engineering safety standards

Complete detailed shift reports and handovers through the CMMS system

Serve as the first escalation point for maintenance issues

Reliability & Root Cause Analysis
Lead investigations into repeat equipment failures and major breakdowns

Utilise structured RCA techniques including 5 Whys and Fishbone Analysis

Deliver RCA reports within required time frames

Identify recurring issues and implement long-term corrective actions

Drive continuous improvement initiatives to improve plant reliability

Share lessons learned and engineering best practice across teams

Planned Preventative Maintenance
Manage and prioritise all PPM activities through CMMS

Ensure maintenance schedules are completed on time and to a high standard

Audit maintenance quality and verify work completion

Support the transition from reactive to proactive maintenance practices

Work collaboratively with production teams to minimise downtime

CMMS & Spare Parts Management
Maintain accurate maintenance records and work order completion

Manage spare parts usage through CMMS processes

Identify critical stock shortages and support inventory optimisation

Promote strong CMMS discipline across the engineering team

Contractor & Compliance Management
Coordinate and oversee all contractor activities on site

Conduct contractor inductions and issue permits

Ensure contractor compliance with site safety standards

Monitor work quality and performance

Maintain accurate contractor records for audit purposes

About You To be successful in this role, you will have:

Minimum 5 years' engineering experience within food manufacturing

Previous experience as a Lead Engineer, Engineering Supervisor, Shift Engineering Manager, Senior Maintenance Engineer or similar leadership role

Strong mechanical and/or electrical engineering background

Proven experience leading engineering teams within a manufacturing environment

Excellent fault-finding and problem-solving skills

Strong understanding of Root Cause Analysis methodologies

Experience using CMMS systems to manage maintenance activities

Knowledge of Permit to Work systems and engineering safety standards

Excellent communication and team leadership skills

Passion for continuous improvement, reliability and engineering excellence

Apply Now If you're an ambitious engineering leader looking to make a real impact within a successful food manufacturing business, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply today to discuss this exciting Lead Maintenance Engineer opportunity in confidence