Customer Operations Manager - Engineering Services in PR1

Energy Jobline ZR; Preston; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation package

Job summary

Energy Jobline ZR is seeking an experienced Customer Operations Manager to lead day-to-day service and maintenance at a major blue-chip customer site. You will manage the on-site engineering team, coordinate maintenance, and drive machine availability while delivering top-level technical service and support to the customer.

You will act as the primary interface between the customer, the site engineering team and the wider service organisation, owning on-site operational priorities and ensuring

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading service, maintenance or engineering teams in CNC or high-value manufacturing.
• Strong on-site leadership with ability to manage engineers in a customer-facing environment.
• Solid technical background to support experienced service engineers and discuss CNC issues confidently.
• Experience planning preventive maintenance and reactive breakdowns on complex production equipment.
• Excellent communication with engineering, maintenance, operations and senior customer stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day site service and maintenance operations to high standards.
• Manage and develop the on-site engineering team, creating accountability and technical excellence.
• Plan resources across planned maintenance, breakdowns and customer production requirements.
• Drive improvements in machine uptime, availability and service quality.
• Coordinate breakdowns and technical issues, supporting fault finding and RCA.
• Interface with the customer, conduct service reviews and manage expectations.
• Monitor KPIs and report performance to the Service Director.

Skills

CNC knowledge

Leadership

Customer management

Problem solving

Maintenance planning

Job description

Job DescriptionRELOCATION PACKAGE AVAILABLE*

We are looking for an experienced Customer Operations Manager to take responsibility for the day-to-day management and delivery of service and maintenance activities at a major blue-chip customer site. This is a highly visible, customer-facing operational leadership role with responsibility for managing the site-based engineering team, coordinating maintenance and breakdown activity, driving machine availability and ensuring the customer receives an exceptional level of technical service and support. The successful candidate will provide the crucial link between the customer, the site engineering team and the wider service organisation. You will take ownership of operational priorities on site, ensuring engineers and resources are deployed effectively and that planned and reactive maintenance activities are managed professionally and efficiently. Strong technical engineering knowledge is essential. You will need the technical credibility to support experienced Service Engineers, understand complex CNC machine tool problems, participate in technical discussions and communicate confidently with the customer’s engineering and operational teams.

Key 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, preventative maintenance completion and service quality.
• Coordinate complex breakdowns and technical issues, supporting engineers with fault finding, root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Act as the primary operational interface with the customer, leading service reviews, managing expectations and resolving escalations.
• Monitor service KPIs, engineering performance and outstanding actions, providing clear reporting and escalation to the Service Director.

The Ideal Candidate

• Proven experience managing service, maintenance or engineering teams within CNC machine tools, capital equipment or advanced manufacturing.
• Strong operational leadership with experience managing engineers in a demanding, customer-facing environment.
• A solid technical engineering background with the credibility to support and challenge experienced engineers.
• Experience managing both planned preventative maintenance and reactive breakdown activity on complex production equipment.
• Strong customer-management skills with the confidence to engage with Engineering, Maintenance, Operations and senior customer stakeholders.
• Proven people-management capability, including coaching, development, performance management and accountability.
• A proactive, organised and decisive approach with strong communication, problem-solving and continuous-improvement skills.

Background

• Previous experience as a Service Engineer, Senior Engineer, Team Leader, Service Manager or Maintenance Manager before progressing into operational leadership.
• Experience working for a machine tool builder, distributor or specialist service organisation.
• Strong exposure to sophisticated CNC machinery and high-value capital equipment.
• Experience managing engineers within a customer-site or field-service environment.
• Background within aerospace, automotive, defence, precision engineering or high-value manufacturing would be advantageous.
• Experience working with major blue-chip manufacturing customers.
• A track record of retaining strong technical knowledge while progressing into people and operational management.

Why This Role?

• Leadership with technical involvement – Lead and develop an experienced engineering team while remaining close to sophisticated CNC machine tools, breakdowns and technical problem-solving.
• Genuine autonomy and ownership – Have real responsibility for site performance, engineering priorities, machine availability and the overall quality of service delivered.
• The opportunity to join a leader in their with premium high precision equipment