Mechanical Maintenance Engineer

Hollybank Trustees Ltd; Lancaster; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary and pension package

25 days annual leave

Health & wellbeing benefits

Staff discounts

Job summary

Carr’s Billington Agriculture in Lancaster is seeking a Mechanical Maintenance Engineer to join our team. You will be responsible for maintenance, fault finding and repairs within a large animal feed mill, ensuring safety and compliance across the plant.

You will work with the engineering team to plan maintenance, engage with operations, and support on-call duties as required. A minimum NVQ3 or City & Guilds in Engineering is essential.

Qualifications

• Engineering experience in a bulk handling production environment.
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and remain calm under pressure.
• Working knowledge of standard Health & Safety practices (hot works, WAH, LOTO).
• Strong communication skills across teams and with stakeholders.
• Strong problem-solving through structured thinking and analysis.
• Experience of maintenance software and IT in a manufacturing setting.

Responsibilities

• Carry out maintenance activities as part of the engineering team, including fault finding, PPMs and repairs.
• Engage with operations to ensure plant runs smoothly while meeting H&S, feed-safety and environmental requirements.
• Ensure safe and efficient work across all areas, complying with procedures and quality standards.
• Adhere to UFAS accreditation and other assurance schemes.
• Plan and execute work under Permit to Work system with safety as priority.
• Respond to reactive maintenance and expedite repairs to minimise downtime.
• Minimise downtime through diagnosis, timely repair and proactive maintenance.
• Maintain plant and machinery to ensure safe, efficient production.

Skills

Engineering experience

Adaptability

H&S practices

Communication

Problem solving

Maintenance software

Education

NVQ level 3 or City & Guilds in Engineering

Job description

Location: On site / Lansil Way, Lancaster LA1 3QY, UK
Job type: Permanent / Full-time
Sector and subsector: Agriculture, Fishing, Forestry and Food Processing | General
Salary: Competitive salary

We are seeking a highly motivated Mechanical Maintenance Engineer to join our dynamic team at our Lancaster Mill. This exciting opportunity is ideal for someone enthused about the maintenance of a large animal feed mill.

ABOUT US

Every day we provide rural and agricultural communities with the support they need to succeed. Whether they are after a healthier herd or flock, increased yields, faster growth rates, a decent return on their land or even just a helping hand, we have the people, products and services to help our customers get from where they are now to where they want to be. This is why every role at Carr’s Billington is hugely important to our shared success and why we welcome talent from across all different backgrounds to work across our retail, feed, machinery, fuel and central support divisions.

Carr’s Billington Agriculture is a subsidiary company of The Billington Group, who are also the proud owner of Criddle & Co., English Provender Company and Billington Foods.

THE JOB

• Responsible for carrying out maintenance activities as part of the wider engineering team, including fault finding, PPMs and repairs.
• Engage with other stakeholders within the operations business to ensure the smooth running of the plant whilst meeting all H&S, feed‑safety and environmental requirements.
• Ensure engineers work safely and efficiently across all areas of the site, fully complying with company procedures and upholding the company’s standards for Safety, Quality and Hygiene.
• Ensure all operating procedures, statutory requirements and company policies are adhered to, including UFAS accreditation and other relevant assurance schemes.
• Work in accordance with the Permit to Work system, ensuring all maintenance activities are planned and executed with safety as the highest priority.
• Respond promptly to reactive maintenance requirements, expediting repairs safely and timely to minimise disruption to operations.
• Minimise plant downtime caused by mechanical failure through effective fault diagnosis, timely repair and preventative maintenance.
• Carry out maintenance activities in line with the company’s planned maintenance system and schedules, ensuring all plant and machinery are maintained to a standard that enables safe, efficient and reliable production.
• Maintain appropriate levels of engineering spares, ensuring foreseeable interruptions to production are avoided.
• Participate in the site on‑call maintenance rota, providing out‑of‑hours support when required.
• Participate in and support the planning and execution of planned maintenance shutdowns, ensuring work is completed safely, efficiently and to schedule.
• Ensure all work areas are maintained in a clean, tidy and safe condition at all times.
• Take a proactive approach to continuous professional development, maintaining and enhancing engineering skills and knowledge.
• Always adhere to Company and Group policies and procedures, including those relating to Safety, Health and Environmental compliance.
• Ensure relevant legislation and approved codes of practice are adhered to in respect of ongoing compliance, including UFAS, FIAS & NOPS assurance schemes.

SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND QUALITIES REQUIRED

• Engineering experience within a bulk handling production environment.
• Responds positively to changing business priorities, and remains calm when under pressure.
• Working knowledge of standard H&S practices (hot works, WAH, LOTO etc).
• Strong communication skills.
• Strong problem‑solving techniques, through innovative, logical and structured thinking.
• Experience of maintenance software and other IT.
• Qualification to NVQ level 3 or City and Guilds standard in Engineering.

BENEFITS

• An attractive salary package.
• Annual salary reviews in September each year.
• A minimum of 25 days annual leave.
• Opportunity to work for a well‑established family‑owned business with ambitions for growth and innovation.
• Health Assured: Access to an Employee Assistance Programme which offers counselling and health and wellbeing advice.
• Sick pay: Generous company sick pay entitlement.
• Health Cash Plan: A health cash plan allowing colleagues to claim back money spent on everyday health care such as optical, dental, physiotherapy and much more.
• Staff Discount: Colleagues are eligible for a generous staff discount on selected products at our Country Stores.
• Cycle to work scheme: A salary sacrifice scheme saving you tax on the purchase of a new bicycle and associated equipment.
• Flexible life assurance and critical illness cover: Choose to increase the level of life assurance cover already provided to you by the company or add critical illness cover, all at preferential rates.
• My Savings Hub: Access to an exclusive member’s discount website with over 3,500 brands where you can save money and earn cashback on spends from grocery shopping to holidays.
• Salary finance benefits: Savings schemes, preferential rate loans and wage advances all through payroll as well as tools for financial education.
• Pension: Enrolment into the Company pension scheme after 3 months of employment.
• Training & Development: Role specific training and ongoing training and development opportunities identified through our annual appraisal process.