Coating Technical Lead: Operations & People Management

Forward Assist Recruitment; Burnley; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Forward Assist Recruitment is seeking a Coating Technical Manager to lead a team of coating engineers, QC inspectors, and support staff. Reporting to Global Technical Director, you will drive operational excellence, talent development, and continuous improvement across the coating function.

The role requires strong leadership, strategic planning, and the ability to manage budgets, stakeholder relationships, and regulatory compliance while delivering performance improvements and aligned with

Qualifications

• Experience managing a technical, operational, or specialist department.
• Minimum of 10 years' experience in departmental or functional management.
• Science-based bachelor’s degree or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical documentation and Testing activities with the project teams.
• Oversee day-to-day departmental operations, ensuring efficiency and quality.
• Review, develop, and improve departmental processes and workflows.
• Maintain understanding of regulatory environment and trends in coatings.
• Ensure compliance with policies, health and safety regs, and industry standards.
• Monitor expenditure, approve spending and manage budgets.
• Conduct regular performance evaluations of staff.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training, and development with HR.
• Represent the department in cross-functional meetings with senior leaders.
• Build and maintain relationships with clients, suppliers, and partners.
• Ensure effective internal and external communication flow.
• Report departmental performance to senior management and suggest improvements.
• Mentor technical staff and discuss health and safety, production, and customer needs.
• Promote continuous, controlled process improvement through preventive actions.
• Up to 10 direct reports

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Communication

Budget management

People management

Organization

Problem solving

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional

Process improvement

Education

Science-based bachelor’s degree

Job description

Forward Assist Recruitment is seeking a Coating Technical Manager to lead a team of coating engineers, QC inspectors, and support staff. Reporting to Global Technical Director, you will drive operational excellence, talent development, and continuous improvement across the coating function.

The role requires strong leadership, strategic planning, and the ability to manage budgets, stakeholder relationships, and regulatory compliance while delivering performance improvements and aligned with