Maintenance Manager

Bakelite; Barry; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Bakelite is seeking a Maintenance Manager for our upper-tier COMAH chemical manufacturing site in the UK. You will lead the maintenance and reliability function, drive CAPEX/OPEX project delivery, and ensure asset integrity and regulatory compliance.

You will manage a multi-disciplinary team, collaborate with operations and EHS, and implement robust maintenance standards and continuous improvement across plant systems.

Qualifications

• Degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Control/Instrumentation Engineering (preferred).
• 5+ years in maintenance/reliability and project delivery in chemical/process industries.
• Upper Tier COMAH site experience with maintenance leadership.
• Strong knowledge of UK regulatory frameworks: COMAH, DSEAR/ATEX, PUWER, LOLER, PSSR, Confined Space, IEC 61511.

Responsibilities

• Lead site maintenance strategy including preventive, predictive, and corrective activities.
• Maintain critical assets and ensure high availability and integrity.
• Implement reliability-centred maintenance and defect elimination.
• Manage spares, contractors, and RAMS processes for projects.
• Drive continuous improvement in maintenance and shutdown execution.
• Promote safety culture and participate in incident investigations.

Skills

Leadership

Maintenance planning

Reliability engineering

CMMS SAP PM

Contractor management

Safety compliance

Education

BEng/BSc in Mechanical, Electrical or Control/Instrumentation Engineering

Tools

SAP PM

MS Project

Job description

At Bakelite, you’ll help us create a better tomorrow with sustainable and innovative chemistry today.

We’re Everywhere. Everywhere you look, you’ll find products enabled by Bakelite, from stronger homes to safer automobiles and everywhere in between. With more than 100 years of history and strong customer relationships, we boldly engineer sustainable products to tackle our world’s most challenging demands.

Join Our Team and Help Us Build a Stronger, Safer, Better World.

It’s Better with Bakelite.

Maintenance Manager

Position Overview

As the Maintenance Manager you will manage and lead the maintenance team and support reliability, and project delivery function for an Upper Tier COMAH chemical manufacturing site. Ensure asset integrity, legal compliance, and safe, reliable plant performance while delivering OPEX projects and supporting CAPEX projects aligned to business strategy. Act as a key custodian of the sites Maintenance, MI program and contractor management, embedding robust engineering standards and disciplined execution across maintenance and projects.

The role requires strong leadership and people skills. We are looking for an individual who will take ownership of the department and bring change.

Job Responsibilities

Maintenance & Reliability Leadership

• Own the site maintenance strategy (preventive, predictive, and corrective), aligned with COMAH safety requirements and plant criticality.
• Maintain mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and control assets to achieve high availability and integrity-especially for high-hazard equipment (e.g., reactors, storage tanks, formaldehyde handling systems).
• Implement reliability-centred maintenance (RCM), failure mode & effects analysis (FMEA), and defect elimination to reduce unplanned downtime.
• Establish and manage spares strategy and obsolescence plans for critical equipment.
• Drive improvement and compliance with Bakelite EU Maintenance & Reliability KPI’s for the site.
• Management of mechanical integrity programs (thickness surveys, NDT, inspections, calibration/testing of relief devices).

Safety & COMAH Compliance

• Ensure maintenance and project work protects the Safety Report assumptions and Safety Instrumented Functions (SIFs) integrity.
• Involvement with PHA (HAZOP/LOPA).
• Support Permit-to-Work systems (isolation, line-breaking, hot work, confined space, excavation) and control of ignition sources.
• COMAH Duty Manager on call rotation

Project Management (CAPEX/OPEX)

• Assist with delivering the site’s CAPEX portfolio from concept to handover: scope, feasibility, on site management and commissioning.
• Involvement with Management of Change (MoC) for equipment, process, controls, and documentation changes and pre-startup safety reviews (PSSR).
• Manage contractors/vendors: pre-qualification, competence assessment, RAMS review, site induction, supervision, and performance.
• Manage contractors to construct and commission based on \"issued for construction\" designs in collaboration with the Project Manager
• Where necessary and in accordance with agreed processes, ensure design alignment with corporate engineering standards, best available techniques, and lifecycle cost/maintainability.

People, Culture & Stakeholder Management

• Lead and develop multi-disciplinary maintenance team
• Build strong interfaces with Operations, EHS, Quality, Supply Chain, and Corporate Engineering.
• Promote a positive culture and speak-up environment for safety; lead incident investigations.
• Communicate plans, and risks clearly to leadership and regulators where appropriate.
• Implement continuous improvement in maintenance and shutdown execution.
• Utilise condition monitoring, vibration analysis, thermography, online diagnostics, and data analytics to improve reliability.
• Optimise energy usage and emissions performance (aligned to ISO 50001 where applicable).

Education & Experience

Essential Qualifications

• Degree (BEng/BSc) in Mechanical, Electrical, or Control/Instrumentation Engineering (Preferred).
• Demonstrable experience (5+ years) in maintenance/reliability and project delivery within chemical or process industries.
• Upper Tier COMAH site experience with proven maintenance management leadership.
• Strong knowledge of UK regulatory frameworks:

COMAH, DSEAR/ATEX, PUWER, LOLER, PSSR, Confined Space, Functional Safety (IEC 61511), EAWR.

• Proven competence in Permit-to-Work systems, mechanical/electrical isolation, and contractor control.
• Proficiency with CMMS (e.g., SAP PM) and project management software (e.g., MS Project).

Desirable Certifications / Training

• NEBOSH General Certificate
• Functional Safety (IEC 61511) awareness.
• Project Management (e.g., Prince2)
• ISO Systems familiarity: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and ideally ISO 50001 (energy).

Experience & Skills

• Experience of leading/supporting on CAPEX projects from design through to construction within operating plants.
• Maintenance scheduling & planning of preventive, reactive & shutdown activities, including material management.
• Leading reliability/continuous improvement through the use problem solving tools/methodologies (A3 Thinking, 3C’s, 5 Why, Fishbone, FMEA etc).
• Contractor and vendor management; pre-qualification and performance management.
• Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation and control systems familiarity.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.

Key Behaviours

• Safety-first & process safety mindset; challenges unsafe conditions and decisions.
• Ownership & accountability for asset integrity and project outcomes.
• Structured & disciplined in planning, controls, and documentation.
• Departmental collaboration; Operations, EHS, Engineering and Quality; fosters learning culture.
• Continuous improvement orientation and data-driven decision-making.

Disclaimer: We are not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms/employment agencies for this employment opportunity. Please, no phone calls or emails to an employee about this position. All resumes submitted by search firms/employment agencies to any employee of the Company via email, the Internet or in any other form and/or method without a valid written search firm agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of the Company; no fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by the Company as a result of the unsolicited referral or through other means.