Site Engineering Lead

Finsbury Food Group; East Kilbride; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Finsbury Food Group is seeking an experienced Site Engineering Lead for its Johnstone’s bakery site in Scotland. The role focuses on delivering engineering strategy, driving asset performance, and leading a high-calibre engineering team to achieve sustained improvements.

You will influence senior stakeholders, manage budgets, and champion safety and compliance while delivering continuous improvement across a fast-paced FMCG environment.

Qualifications

• Degree or HND in Engineering (or equivalent FMCG experience).
• Experience leading engineering teams in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Proven track record of driving performance improvements and change initiatives.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of the on-site engineering function and deliver the engineering strategy.
• Lead the site’s engineering teams to maximise OEE and asset performance.
• Represent the site in a network of bakeries, sharing best practices and driving improvements.
• Set behavioural standards and champion the company’s values and Operational Excellence.
• Manage engineering budgets and resources with robust financial control and parts management.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Stakeholder management

Change management

Continuous improvement

Team development

Education

Degree or HND in Engineering

Tools

Automation/Mechatronics

Excel

Job description

We have an opportunity for an experienced Site Engineering Lead to join the Engineering and Site Senior Leadership team at our highly automated Johnstone’s bakery site, which forms part of the 10 sites currently within the Finsbury Food Group.

This is a fantastic chance to join one of the UK’s largest bakery businesses, who provides some of the top branded products along with outstanding prospects for growth and development. At Finsbury Food Group, we are passionate about investing in our teams; supporting your career to meet its full potential and thrive in our growing group of bakeries. We have an extremely strong investment profile. And continually look for ways to enhance our processes through innovation. This role is ideal for an experienced Engineering Leader looking to join a community of high calibre engineering leaders to deliver demonstrable gains in asset and people excellence. You will be a key leader in the delivery of capital investment in a thriving FMCG business.

The Site Engineering Lead will lead the engineering department on site to deliver the departmental and site strategies. Maximising OEE through robust leadership of the Engineering shift teams will be crucial to success, so strong leadership and team development capability are essential. This role acts as the most senior engineering position on site and so will be required to be credible presenting to and influencing senior stakeholders. To be successful in this role, the candidate will have worked in a similar engineering leadership position within a fast-paced manufacturing sector. They will have demonstratable experience of leading and developing teams, change management and strong financial and performance success. Good stakeholder management and clear communication skills are essential as this is a fast-paced role with a need for adaptability, influencing and perseverance to drive sustained improvements.

This is what you’ll actually do!

• You’ll take full ownership of the engineering function on site, leading the delivery of the engineering strategy and driving measurable improvements in performance.
• Representing the site in a community of over ten bakeries sharing best practices in all aspects of asset excellence, delivering across our full balanced scorecard, with strong focus on Safety and Compliance at the forefront of everything you and your team do.
• Another key focus will be maximising OEE through strong leadership of the engineering teams, ensuring high standards of reliability, responsiveness, and continuous improvement. You’ll build capability across the team by developing talent, strengthening succession pipelines, and embedding a high-performance culture.
• You’ll lead from the front in setting behavioural standards, championing the company’s values and Operational Excellence programme. Using both internal best practice and external insights, you’ll identify and implement opportunities to improve efficiency, automation, and overall site performance.
• Alongside this, you’ll manage engineering budgets and resources effectively, ensuring robust financial control, optimised spare parts management, and delivery against key performance targets. As the senior engineering lead on site, you’ll also play a key role in influencing stakeholders and contributing to wider business strategy.

Ideally this is you!

• Degree or HND qualified in Engineering (or equivalent FMCG manufacturing experience)
• Proven experience leading and developing engineering teams in a fast-paced environment
• Strong track record of driving performance improvement and leading change
• Experience with automation and/or mechatronics within manufacturing
• Confident communicator with strong stakeholder management skills
• Highly organised with strong project management and problem-solving ability
• Able to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on operational delivery
• Proactive, solutions-focused, and committed to continuous improvement
• Demonstrates strong leadership, accountability, and collaboration
• Open to new ideas and committed to implementing best practice
• Strong IT skills, including Excel and data analysis
• Professional, decisive, and confident working in a fast-paced environment