Maintenance Manager

Comton Group; Lower Darwen; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Comton Group in Blackburn, Lancashire, is seeking an experienced Maintenance Manager to own the site maintenance function. You will lead the proactive maintenance programme, maximise equipment reliability and reduce downtime, while collaborating with Production, Quality and senior management.

This hands-on leadership role requires strong mechanical/electrical knowledge, a track record of developing teams and driving continuous improvement in a fast-paced manufacturing setting.

Qualifications

• Experience in a Maintenance Manager/Engineering Manager or senior maintenance role.
• Strong mechanical and electrical maintenance knowledge.
• Experience managing preventative, planned and reactive maintenance programmes.
• Experience with industrial production machinery.
• Proven leadership and team development.
• Strong health, safety and compliance knowledge.
• Experience using a CMMS or maintenance management system.
• Root-cause analysis and fault-finding capability.
• Experience managing contractors and external suppliers.
• Excellent planning, organisational and prioritisation skills.

Responsibilities

• Take overall responsibility for the site's maintenance function.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive preventative and planned maintenance strategy.
• Establish maintenance priorities based on safety, production requirements and risk.
• Maximise plant availability and minimise unplanned downtime.
• Manage reactive maintenance while increasing planned work.
• Maintain maintenance records, schedules and equipment histories.
• Develop maintenance KPIs and performance indicators.
• Lead, coach and develop the maintenance team.
• Work with Production, Quality, Health & Safety and senior management.

Skills

Maintenance leadership

Mechanical maintenance

Electrical maintenance

Preventive maintenance

Reactive maintenance

Team development

Health & safety

CMMS experience

Root-cause analysis

Contractor management

Planning & prioritisation

Communication skills

Hands-on engineering

Education

Engineering qualification or apprenticeship

Tools

CMMS

Job description

Maintenance Manager

Location: Blackburn, Lancashire

Department: Engineering & Maintenance

Reports to: Operations Director

Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience

Hours: Full-time

About the Company

A specialist stainless-steel processing business based in Blackburn, operating from a purpose-built 100,000 sq. ft. facility and supplying demanding sectors including nuclear, aerospace, defence, power generation and other regulated industries. The business has grown significantly through continued investment in advanced processing technology and now processes approximately 10,000 tonnes of stainless steel annually. Safety, quality, traceability and operational reliability are central to the organisation's continued success.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the business at an important stage of its development, with significant scope to improve equipment reliability, maintenance processes and overall operational performance.

The Role

We are looking for an experienced and proactive Maintenance Manager to take full ownership of the maintenance function across the site. Reporting to the Operations Director, you will be responsible for ensuring that all production machinery, plant, equipment and site infrastructure are maintained to the highest standards, maximising equipment availability and reliability while minimising unplanned downtime.

You will lead the development of a proactive maintenance culture, moving the business towards increasingly planned, preventative and predictive maintenance. Working closely with Production, Quality, Health & Safety and senior management, you will play a key role in improving plant performance and supporting future investment. This is a hands-on leadership position suited to someone who enjoys solving problems, developing people and making measurable improvements within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

Maintenance Management

• Take overall responsibility for the site's maintenance function.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive preventative and planned maintenance strategy.
• Establish maintenance priorities based on safety, production requirements, equipment criticality and business risk.
• Maximise plant availability and minimise unplanned production downtime.
• Manage reactive maintenance effectively while increasing the proportion of planned and preventative work.
• Maintain accurate maintenance records, schedules and equipment histories.
• Develop and monitor maintenance KPIs and performance indicators.

Plant & Equipment

• Take ownership of the reliability and availability of all production equipment.
• Support maintenance across laser cutting, waterjet, plasma, sawing, machining, press braking, material handling and associated equipment.
• Identify recurring equipment failures and implement permanent corrective actions.
• Carry out root-cause analysis on significant equipment failures.
• Work with equipment manufacturers and specialist contractors where required.
• Ensure appropriate critical spares are identified and maintained.
• Support the installation, commissioning and integration of new machinery and technology.
• Contribute to future capital investment and equipment replacement strategies.

Health, Safety & Compliance

• Promote a strong safety-first culture across all maintenance activities.
• Ensure maintenance work is carried out in accordance with company procedures, legislation and safe systems of work.
• Ensure appropriate isolation and lock-out/tag-out procedures are followed.
• Maintain statutory inspection and examination requirements for relevant plant and equipment.
• Identify and manage engineering and maintenance-related risks.
• Ensure contractors are appropriately briefed, controlled and compliant with site requirements.

Leadership & People

• Lead, manage and develop the maintenance team.
• Plan maintenance resources effectively around production requirements.
• Set clear standards for safety, quality, workmanship and performance.
• Coach and develop team members to increase technical capability.
• Build a culture of ownership, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Manage external contractors and engineering service providers.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve equipment reliability, efficiency and maintainability.
• Introduce appropriate condition-monitoring and predictive maintenance techniques.
• Analyse downtime and equipment data to identify trends and recurring problems.
• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective-action programmes.
• Improve maintenance planning, scheduling and execution.
• Work collaboratively with Production and Engineering to improve overall equipment effectiveness.
• Support continuous improvement and lean manufacturing initiatives.

About You

We are looking for an experienced maintenance professional with a strong background in manufacturing, engineering or a similarly machinery-intensive environment.

You will ideally have:

• Proven experience in a Maintenance Manager, Engineering Manager or senior maintenance position.
• Strong mechanical and electrical maintenance knowledge.
• Experience managing preventative, planned and reactive maintenance programmes.
• Experience working with industrial production machinery.
• Proven experience leading and developing a maintenance team.
• Strong understanding of health, safety and statutory compliance requirements.
• Experience using a CMMS or maintenance management system.
• Strong fault-finding and root-cause analysis capability.
• Experience managing contractors and external engineering suppliers.
• Excellent planning, organisational and prioritisation skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• A practical, hands-on approach with the ability to think strategically.
• An engineering qualification, apprenticeship or equivalent technical experience would be highly desirable.
• Experience within steel processing, metal processing, fabrication, heavy engineering, precision manufacturing or a similar industrial environment would be advantageous.

The Ideal Candidate

You will be someone who:

• Takes ownership - you will have full accountability for the performance of the maintenance function.
• Is proactive - you focus on preventing failures rather than simply responding to them.
• Is hands-on - you are comfortable getting involved and understanding technical problems at source.
• Is safety-focused - you understand that safety is never compromised.
• Is analytical - you use data and root-cause analysis to make informed decisions.
• Is a strong leader - you can motivate, develop and hold a maintenance team accountable.
• Is commercially aware - you understand the balance between reliability, maintenance investment and production requirements.
• Drives improvement - you continually look for ways to make equipment safer, more reliable and more efficient.
• Understands quality - you appreciate the importance of consistency, traceability and process control when supplying high-integrity industries.

Why Join?

This is an excellent opportunity to join a growing specialist manufacturing business and take genuine ownership of its maintenance strategy.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Lead and develop the maintenance function.
• Make a direct impact on plant reliability and production performance.
• Work with advanced manufacturing and processing equipment.
• Influence future capital investment and engineering decisions.
• Develop a proactive, reliability-focused maintenance culture.
• Work within a business supplying demanding and highly regulated industries.
• Play a key role in the continued growth and development of the site.