Lead Engineer

Zest Food Jobs; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

Zest Food Jobs is recruiting an Engineering Lead for a well-established food manufacturing site. This pivotal role heads a team of engineers and drives reliability, efficiency, and continuous improvement across the plant.

You will lead day-to-day maintenance, work closely with production to boost performance, and foster a proactive maintenance culture across the team.

Qualifications

• Leads and mentors an engineering team.
• Strong hands-on electrical and/or mechanical knowledge.
• Good communication and stakeholder management skills.
• A Level 3 Engineering qualification (Mechanical or Electrical) required.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day maintenance activity.
• Work with production to improve plant performance.
• Drive reliability, efficiency and continuous improvement across the site.
• Lead engineering projects from concept through to implementation.
• Coordinate priorities with production and manage contractor relationships.
• Coach and mentor the wider team and uphold safe systems of work.

Skills

Team leadership

Electrical/mechanical hands-on

Communication

Stakeholder management

Education

A Level 3 Engineering (Mechanical or Electrical)

Job description

Commutable from Littleport, Ely, Downham Market, March, Chatteris, Soham and Wisbech

Salary: £55,000, plus an attractive benefits package

Hours: 4 days per week, Monday to Friday, with a rotating rest day. Core hours 6:30am to 5:30pm. No weekends!

We’re recruiting on behalf of a well-established food manufacturing business for a hands‑on Engineering Lead to head up a team of engineers and drive reliability, efficiency, and continuous improvement across the site.

You’ll lead day‑to‑day maintenance activity, work closely with production to improve plant performance, and build a proactive maintenance culture across the team.

What you’ll be doing:

• Leading and developing a team of engineers


• Overseeing preventative maintenance and providing breakdown support (electrical and/or mechanical)


• Driving continuous improvement in safety, efficiency, and performance


• Leading engineering projects, from concept through to implementation


• Coordinating priorities with production and managing contractor relationships


• Coaching and mentoring the wider team, and upholding safe systems of work

What we’re looking for:

• Experience leading or mentoring an engineering team


• Strong electrical and/or mechanical knowledge, with a hands‑on approach


• Good communication and stakeholder management skills


• A Level 3 Engineering qualification (Mechanical or Electrical)