Freshwater Engineering Manager

Scottish Sea Farms Ltd; Barcaldine; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 98,000; Full time

Job summary

Scottish Sea Farms is seeking a Freshwater Engineering Manager to lead engineering across Barcaldine, Girlsta and Knock. The role combines leadership with hands-on technical support as needed to ensure safety, reliability and efficiency across freshwater facilities.

You will develop teams, manage budgets, and oversee maintenance programmes, while ensuring compliance with health, safety and environmental standards and supporting fish welfare and biosecurity initiatives.

Qualifications

• A recognised engineering qualification or equivalent relevant technical experience.
• Proven experience leading and developing engineering or maintenance teams.
• Strong understanding of maintenance, asset reliability and operational risk.
• Experience managing budgets, contractors and engineering resources; safe systems of work.
• Excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to balance longer-term priorities with continuous operational demands.

Responsibilities

• Lead, motivate and develop engineering teams across multiple freshwater facilities.
• Ensure the reliability and availability of critical engineering systems and infrastructure.
• Develop and deliver preventative maintenance and asset management programmes.
• Drive continuous improvement in equipment reliability, energy efficiency and performance.
• Manage engineering budgets, contractors and resources.
• Lead and support engineering development and capital improvement projects.
• Ensure compliance with health, safety, environmental and statutory requirements.
• Collaborate with production and operational teams to support fish welfare and biosecurity.
• Designated Reservoir Manager and maintenance of Dam.
• Maintain emergency response and out-of-hours engineering support arrangements.
• Develop team capability through training, performance management and succession planning.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Maintenance management

Asset reliability

Budget management

Health & safety

Communication

Problem solving

Prioritisation

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

Fiix CMMS

Maintenance software

Job description

Freshwater Engineering Manager

Closing date: Friday 4th December 2026

Location: Barcaldine Argyll, with travel to Mull/Shetland

Salary and benefits: Competitive Salary

Scottish Sea Farms is seeking an experienced and motivated Freshwater Engineering Manager to lead engineering operations across our freshwater facilities at Barcaldine, Girlsta and Knock. This is an opportunity for an engineering professional who combines strong technical expertise with proven leadership capabilities and a commitment to operational excellence.

Our freshwater facilities play a critical role in salmon production, and the reliability of our engineering infrastructure is essential to maintaining fish welfare, production performance and business continuity.

The opportunity

Reporting to the Head of Freshwater, you will provide strategic and operational leadership to our multi-site engineering function, ensuring facilities, equipment and infrastructure operate safely, reliably and efficiently. You will develop engineering teams, improve asset performance, oversee maintenance programmes and budgets, and support engineering projects.

This is primarily a leadership position, but you will also be technically capable, practical and willing to provide hands-on engineering support when operational demands or resource constraints require it.

Key responsibilities

• Lead, motivate and develop engineering teams across multiple freshwater facilities.
• Ensure the reliability and availability of critical engineering systems and infrastructure.
• Develop and deliver preventative maintenance and asset management programmes.
• Drive continuous improvement in equipment reliability, energy efficiency and operational performance.
• Manage engineering budgets, contractors and resources.
• Lead and support engineering development and capital improvement projects.
• Ensure compliance with health, safety, environmental and statutory requirements.
• Collaborate with production and operational teams to support fish welfare, biosecurity and continuity.
• Designated Reservoir Manager and maintenance of Dam.
• Maintain effective emergency response and out-of-hours engineering support arrangements.
• Develop team capability through training, performance management and succession planning.

About you

We are looking for a confident engineering leader with a strong technical background and a practical, solutions-focused approach.

Essential experience and skills

• A recognised engineering qualification or equivalent relevant technical experience.
• Proven experience leading and developing engineering or maintenance teams.
• Strong understanding of maintenance, asset reliability and operational risk.
• Experience managing budgets, contractors and engineering resources.Sound knowledge of health and safety requirements and safe systems of work.
• Excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to balance longer-term priorities with continuous operational demands.

Desirable experience

• Aquaculture, water treatment, manufacturing or another continuous-process industry.
• Multi-site engineering management and engineering project delivery.
• Automated control systems, pumping, water treatment or critical utilities.
• Computerised maintenance management systems, such as Fiix.

Why join Scottish Sea Farms?

You will have the opportunity to shape engineering standards, develop technical teams, improve operational resilience and contribute to engineering investment and improvement initiatives across multiple facilities. We value leadership, technical credibility and a safe, collaborative engineering culture.