Engineering Manager

Trek Recruitment Ltd; Ellesmere Port; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Trek Recruitment Ltd is sourcing an Engineering Manager to lead the new Ellesmere Port plant from day one. You will own the engineering and reliability strategy, guiding the site through hot commissioning planned for late 2026 and into a stable, maintenance-driven operation.

With responsibility across heavy engineering and process automation, you will build a lean team, implement a robust PM/RCM/TPM framework and be the hands-on leader during the start-up phase to achieve high planned

Qualifications

• Significant experience as Engineering Manager or senior engineering lead in manufacturing.
• Breadth across heavy engineering and process automation.
• Hands-on commissioning of new process plant ideal.
• Proven delivery of high planned-to-unplanned maintenance.
• Experience with Permit to Work, contractor safety and LOTO.
• Strong CMMS, work planning and spares management experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead start-up and commissioning, including hot commissioning.
• Design and implement a PPM programme across mechanical, electrical and automation assets.
• Apply RCM/TPM to critical assets and select appropriate maintenance strategies.
• Embed TPM, including operator autonomous maintenance.
• Own reliability KPIs such as MTBF, MTTR and schedule compliance; drive improvements.
• Manage stores, critical spares and OEM/vendor relationships.
• Ensure compliance with statutory inspections, health and safety law.

Skills

Engineering leadership

RCM/TPM

Maintenance planning

Permit to Work

LOTO compliance

Spare parts management

Tools

CMMS

SCADA

Profibus

Job description

Engineering Manager | Ellesmere Port, CH65 7BF

£55,000-£65,000 | Permanent, full-time

Join the founding leadership team of a brand-new manufacturing plant in Ellesmere Port. All equipment is new. Hot commissioning is planned for November/December 2026, with full capacity targeted for early 2027.

You will design, implement and own the engineering and reliability strategy from day one — taking the site safely through commissioning into stable, planned-maintenance operation. The asset base runs from heavy engineering (conveyors, granulators and similar plant) through to process automation (Profibus, SCADA) and everything in between.

The role

You will lead Engineering & Reliability through start-up and into full operation, with a clear brief to build a planned-maintenance culture (target 80-85% planned / 15-20% unplanned) using RCM and TPM.

Commissioning and start-up

• Lead and coordinate hot commissioning of all new plant equipment (Nov/Dec 2026)
• Support ramp-up to full capacity through early-mid 2027
• Establish commissioning procedures, punch-list control, as-built documentation and operator training support
• Act as Site Custodian for Permit to Work and implement rigorous LOTO across all shifts

Planned maintenance, RCM and TPM

• Design and implement a PPM programme across mechanical, electrical and automation assets
• Apply RCM to critical assets and select the right maintenance strategy for each
• Embed TPM, including operator autonomous maintenance
• Drive and measure a high planned-to-unplanned work ratio

Reliability, systems and improvement

• Select, configure and embed a CMMS for planning, scheduling, history, spares and reporting
• Own reliability KPIs (MTBF, MTTR, planned vs unplanned, schedule compliance, backlog health)
• Lead root-cause analysis and make corrective actions stick
• Manage stores, critical spares and OEM/vendor relationships
• Ensure compliance with statutory inspections, pressure systems, LOLER, PUWER and UK health and safety law

Leadership

• Build and develop a lean engineering team that grows with the plant
• Work closely with Operations so maintenance is planned around production
• Be a visible, hands-on leader through the start-up phase

What you will need

• Significant experience as Engineering Manager, Maintenance Manager or senior Engineering Lead in manufacturing, process or industrial environments
• Breadth across heavy engineering (conveyors, granulators and similar) and process automation (Profibus, SCADA)
• Hands-on plant commissioning, start-up or major equipment handover (hot commissioning of new process plant ideal)
• Proven delivery of planned preventive maintenance and a high planned-to-unplanned ratio
• Experience managing Permit to Work, contractor safety and LOTO in heavy manufacturing
• Practical RCM and/or TPM experience, including operator autonomous maintenance
• Strong CMMS, work planning, spares management and reliability KPI capability