CNC Machine Tools Site Operations Leader

The Clay Partnership; Preston; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

The Clay Partnership is seeking an experienced Service Operations Manager to lead day-to-day service and maintenance at a major blue-chip customer site in Preston. You will manage the site engineering team, coordinate maintenance, drive machine availability and ensure exceptional technical service.

Strong technical engineering knowledge is essential; you will support service engineers, troubleshoot CNC machine tool issues, and communicate with customer operations and engineering teams.

Qualifications

• Proven experience managing service, maintenance or engineering teams within CNC machine tools or high-value manufacturing.
• Strong operational leadership in a customer-facing environment.
• Solid technical engineering background with the credibility to support experienced engineers.
• Experience managing both planned preventative maintenance and reactive breakdown activity on complex production equipment.
• Strong customer-management skills and ability to engage with Engineering, Maintenance and Operations teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day site service and maintenance operation, ensuring consistently high standards of delivery.
• Manage, motivate and develop the site-based engineering team, creating a culture of accountability and technical excellence.
• Plan and prioritise resources across planned maintenance, breakdowns and customer production requirements.
• Drive improvements in machine uptime, availability, response times, and service quality.
• Coordinate complex breakdowns and technical issues, supporting fault finding, root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Act as the primary operational interface with the customer, leading service reviews and resolving escalations.
• Monitor service KPIs, engineering performance and reporting to the Service Director.

Job description

The Clay Partnership is seeking an experienced Service Operations Manager to lead day-to-day service and maintenance at a major blue-chip customer site in Preston. You will manage the site engineering team, coordinate maintenance, drive machine availability and ensure exceptional technical service.

Strong technical engineering knowledge is essential; you will support service engineers, troubleshoot CNC machine tool issues, and communicate with customer operations and engineering teams.