Engineering Lead, Operations Management, Automation & Mechatronics Engineer

Location:

Chirk, Wrexham (Full-time on-site) Rate:
Up to £48.87 per hour, 36 hours per week (Circa £91,500.00 per annum)

Contract:

6 Months initial contract (Potential for extension or Temp-to-Perm transition) About the Business & Site

This facility is a critical, foundational processing hub within a global chocolate manufacturing network. Responsible for taking raw cocoa bean deliveries and transforming them into cocoa fats, liquors, and drinking powders, this site serves as the crucial first link supplying internal network sites and third-party partners.

The site employs circa 300 full-time staff alongside a significant contingent of contractors. It operates a heavy industrial processing line (grinding, roasting, milling, compression, and blending) alongside a newer, highly automated packaging section. The site blends heritage infrastructure with a major upcoming investment roadmap, offering an exceptional opportunity to lead modern engineering change on a foundational site.

Reporting directly to the Site Head, the Engineering Lead will oversee all processing and packing engineering operations. You will lead a dedicated team of 20 technicians across both areas (mix of day-based and shift-based, single and multi-skilled) via two direct-report Engineering Managers. Additionally, you will manage a high volume of infrastructure, specialized engineering, and regular OEM contractors.

Your primary objective is to shift site culture from reactive maintenance to a robust preventative and predictive model while steering lean manufacturing practices and delivering extensive Cap Ex investments alongside project engineers.

• Provide leadership to two Engineering Managers overseeing a team of 20 day and shift technicians, upskilling single-skilled techs into multi-skilled capabilities.
• Direct and oversee a large contingent of OEM and infrastructure contractors on-site.
• Serve as the senior technical authority across both heavy continuous processing (~2/3 of site operations) and automated packing (~1/3 of site operations).

• Drive the strategic transition from a reactive maintenance model to a structured preventative and predictive maintenance program.
• Drive utilization of SAP CMMS to optimize maintenance schedules, asset management, and equipment reliability.
• Champion Lean manufacturing tools (TPM, 5S, Kaizen, Root Cause Analysis) to minimize unplanned downtime and boost operational efficiency.
• Track and improve core engineering KPIs including GE/OEE, MTBF, and MTTR.

• Partner with project engineers to deliver an ambitious site investment roadmap, helping to upgrade legacy assets (including original roasters) alongside modern automated packaging lines.

• Background: Strong engineering leadership experience in heavy process-driven or high-volume manufacturing environments. Candidates from Food & Beverage, Automotive, or Chemical processing are preferred.
• Lean Capability: Proven, hands-on experience implementing Lean tools and transforming reactive maintenance operations into preventative strategies.
• Technical Depth: Deep understanding of continuous heavy process engineering (e.g., grinding, milling, compression, thermal processing) as well as automated packing operations.
• Scale
  
  Experience:
  
  Prior exposure to larger manufacturing operations is strongly preferred to support the site's ongoing growth and investment strategy.
• Contractor & Asset Management: Demonstrated track record of overseeing complex contractor footprints (OEM & infrastructure) and embedding CMMS systems (SAP preferred).