Engineering Manager

PROPER SNACKS; Nuneaton; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

PROPER SNACKS in the United Kingdom is seeking an Engineering Manager for the Nuneaton site to lead engineering strategy, asset care and people capability within a fast-growing FMCG manufacturing environment.

You will own safety, quality and reliability, drive CAPEX and maintenance programs, and partner with Operations, Quality and Supply Chain to deliver safe, compliant production at scale.

Qualifications

• HNC or higher in Mechanical, Electrical or related Engineering.
• Proven experience leading engineering teams in manufacturing or FMCG.
• Strong knowledge of asset care, PPM systems and CMMS.
• Experience delivering engineering projects and CAPEX.
• Commercial awareness with budgets and contractors.
• Confident communicator influencing across Operations, Quality and senior stakeholders.
• People-centered leadership aligned to PROPER SNACKS values.

Responsibilities

• Establish and manage a skilled, motivated engineering team across all shifts.
• Foster safety culture with training and clear accountability.
• Promote collaboration with Operations, Quality and Supply Chain.
• Own asset care strategy, reliability and OEE improvements.
• Lead Planned Preventive Maintenance and CMMS-driven maintenance.
• Drive root cause analysis and data-led decision making.
• Manage spend within budgets and deliver CAPEX benefits.
• Guide engineering strategy for future readiness and sustainability.

Skills

Leadership experience

Stakeholder influence

Communication

People development

Safety & compliance mindset

Education

HNC or higher in Mechanical, Electrical or related Engineering

Tools

CMMS knowledge

Asset care

CAPEX project tools

Job description

Engineering Manager - Manufacturing

We are looking for an Engineering Manager to join our Nuneaton factory and play a critical role in how PROPER SNACKS delivers safe, reliable and scalable manufacturing. As a member of the Factory leadership team, this role owns engineering strategy, asset care and people capability, enabling Operations and Quality to perform at their best today while preparing the site for future growth.

The Person

This person is a visible, values-led leader who takes ownership for safety, standards and performance on the factory floor. They are data-driven and improvement-focused, with a strong bias for prevention over reaction. They balance strategic thinking with hands-on leadership and are motivated by developing people, eliminating failure and building robust systems that scale with the business.

The Role

The Engineering Manager leads all site engineering activity, ensuring assets, systems and people are aligned to deliver safe, compliant and reliable manufacturing. The role is accountable for engineering performance, team capability, asset care, CAPEX delivery and cross-functional alignment across the Nuneaton site.

Responsibilities

People & Culture

• Establish and manage a skilled, motivated engineering team across all shifts.
• Enhance engineering expertise through the implementation of skills matrices, succession planning, and tailored development initiatives.
• Foster a robust safety culture within engineering by demonstrating leadership presence, providing comprehensive training, and ensuring clear accountability.
• Promote effective collaboration with Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain functions.
• Accountability for engineering capability depth and talent pipeline.
• Responsibility for engineering succession planning and critical role preparedness.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Promote high standards for Quality, Health, Safety, and Environmental compliance throughout all engineering activities.
• Ensure that engineering systems effectively support food safety, hygiene requirements, and audit preparedness (e.g., BRC, ISO45001).
• Maintain statutory compliance across plant, equipment, and infrastructure.
• Establish and consistently apply machinery standards and safe working practices.
• The single point of accountability for engineering compliance risk at the site.
• Formalise the governance and ownership of engineering change control processes.

Reliability & Delivery

• Own the site asset care strategy, improving reliability, availability and OEE
• Lead effective Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) and CMMS-driven maintenance systems
• Drive structured fault elimination through root cause analysis and data-led decision making
• Reduce unplanned downtime by eliminating repeat failures and improving asset condition
• Track, analyse and act on engineering KPI

Cost, CAPEX & Productivity

• Manage engineering and maintenance spend within agreed budgets
• Deliver engineering-led productivity and waste-reduction initiatives
• Lead delivery and accountable for benefits realisation of engineering and infrastructure CAPEX projects
• Implement effective contractor management and cost-tracking processes

Strategy, Sustainability & Future Readiness

• Provide engineering input into the Nuneaton 2030 transformation roadmap
• Define asset criticality and support business continuity planning
• Support sustainability initiatives through asset and infrastructure improvements
• Embed Builder's Toolkit principles into engineering standards, projects and team development

Requirements

• HNC or higher in Mechanical, Electrical or related Engineering discipline
• Proven experience leading engineering teams in a manufacturing or FMCG environment
• Strong knowledge of asset care, PPM systems and CMMS
• Experience delivering engineering projects and CAPEX
• Commercial awareness with experience managing budgets and contractors
• Confident communicator able to influence across Operations, Quality and senior stakeholders
• A people-centred leadership style aligned to PROPER SNACKS values

About PS

PROPER SNACKS is the home of PROPER and Eat Real. The UK's fastest-growing major snacks company.
We're a diverse team of builders, thinkers, creators and makers -based in London and Nuneaton and serving snackers across Europe. Our brilliant team are united by an insatiable curiosity and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. At PROPER SNACKS, we don't sit still. We scale fast, dream big and back our people to make stuff happen. Our values keep us grounded:Be builder. Dream bigger. Seriously fun.

LDN - Drummond Street - London - NW1 3HP

NUN - Townsend Dr - Nuneaton - CV11 6TJ

Our Approach

PROPER and Eat Real is an equal opportunities employer and we do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability, or age.

Please let us know if there is anything we can do to accommodate you to participate fully in the recruitment or interview process.