Lead Reliability Engineer – FMCG Asset Care & Optimization

Avara Foods Ltd.; Hereford; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

6% Pension

31 Days Holiday

Life Assurance

Private Medical Health Cover

Subsidised Canteen

Free Staff Parking

Wellbeing benefits

Job summary

Avara Foods is seeking a Lead Reliability Engineer to drive reliability strategy at our Hereford site. You will lead a small team of Reliability Engineers and partner with maintenance operations to deliver asset-performance improvements.

Responsibilities include developing proactive maintenance plans, reducing downtime, and guiding KPI-driven improvement across engineering, operations, and planning teams. This is a hands-on leadership role in a large-scale manufacturing environment.

Qualifications

• HND or above in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, or related discipline)
• Proven experience in reliability, maintenance, or engineering leadership in an FMCG or manufacturing environment
• Strong understanding of maintenance systems (CMMS), asset management, and performance metrics (OEE, MTBF, MTTR)
• Demonstrable leadership, coaching, and influencing skills
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication abilities
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively across teams

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Reliability Team, ensuring effective delivery of asset performance, maintenance planning, and reliability projects.
• Act as lead for reliability and asset care, championing continuous improvement across site.
• Develop and sustain proactive maintenance strategies, including predictive and condition-based maintenance, to improve equipment availability and reduce unplanned downtime.
• Analyse performance and downtime data to identify and eliminate root causes of equipment failure.
• Collaborate with the wider Engineer Team to coordinate planned maintenance, improvement activities, and engineering support during production.
• Support the Engineering Reliability Manager in the development and execution of the site’s maintenance and reliability roadmap.
• Maintain the office, reliability- and outside areas to high standard, ensuring regular checks are conducted and satisfactory feedback is received from GMP/WPW audits.
• Lead cross-functional reliability reviews, ensuring effective communication between Engineering, Operations, Planning, and technical teams.

Skills

Reliability leadership

Maintenance planning

Data-driven decisions

Cross-functional collaboration

CMMS knowledge

OEE/MTBF/MTTR understanding

Education

HND or above in Engineering (Mechanical/Electrical)

NEBOSH or IOSH qualification

CAD experience

Tools

CMMS

RCM

FMEA

TPM

Job description

Avara Foods is seeking a Lead Reliability Engineer to drive reliability strategy at our Hereford site. You will lead a small team of Reliability Engineers and partner with maintenance operations to deliver asset-performance improvements.

Responsibilities include developing proactive maintenance plans, reducing downtime, and guiding KPI-driven improvement across engineering, operations, and planning teams. This is a hands-on leadership role in a large-scale manufacturing environment.