Head of Engineering

Location: Trowbridge — site-based

Salary: Up to £100,000, dependent on experience

Reporting to: Key member of the senior management team

The opportunity

We’re seeking an experienced Head of Engineering to lead engineering across a large manufacturing site and contribute as a member of the Senior Management Team. This is a strategic, hands-on leadership role: you’ll shape the site’s engineering direction while building the capability, reliability and continuous-improvement culture needed to deliver long-term operational performance. Experience in liquid processing or manufacturing is advantageous, but not essential. We welcome applications from leaders with relevant engineering experience in other complex manufacturing environments.

Key responsibilities

• Set and deliver the site engineering strategy, aligned with business priorities and long-term investment plans.
• Lead engineering, maintenance and reliability activities to support safe, reliable and efficient production.
• Develop and embed continuous improvement across engineering and operations, using Lean, Six Sigma and other appropriate improvement methods.
• Use data, root-cause analysis and performance measures to identify opportunities and deliver sustainable results.
• Lead capital projects, asset care and lifecycle planning, managing scope, budgets, risks and delivery.
• Work collaboratively with production, quality, supply chain, finance and health and safety colleagues.
• Develop engineering capability through coaching, succession planning and effective team leadership.
• Promote high standards of safety, compliance, environmental responsibility and engineering governance.
• Contribute to site-wide and business-level decisions as part of the Senior Management Team.

About you

You’ll bring a strong engineering background and a track record of leading teams or functions in a manufacturing or similarly complex operational environment. You’ll be able to connect strategic priorities with practical delivery on site, and engage people at every level to make improvements that last.

You’re likely to offer:

• Significant engineering leadership experience in manufacturing, process or another relevant industrial setting.
• Experience developing and delivering engineering or asset-management strategy.
• MUST have demonstrable working knowledge of Six Sigma, Lean or comparable continuous-improvement approaches, with evidence of applying them effectively.
• Strong capability in reliability, maintenance, project delivery and performance improvement.
• Confidence using operational data and structured problem-solving to guide decisions.
• The ability to influence across functions and contribute to senior-level discussions.
• A practical, collaborative leadership style, with a focus on developing people and building effective teams.
• A relevant engineering qualification or equivalent professional experience.

Desirable

• Experience in a FMCG manufacturing sector.
• Six Sigma qualification or other formal continuous-improvement training.
• Experience leading major capital investment or transformation programmes.

What we offer

• salary of up to £100,000, depending on experience.
• The opportunity to shape engineering strategy at a large manufacturing site.
• A senior leadership role with meaningful scope to improve performance and develop the function.
• Fair and inclusive recruitment: We assess candidates on relevant skills, experience and potential. We welcome applications from people with varied career paths and backgrounds. This role is open to applicants with the experience and capability to meet its requirements, regardless of age or other protected characteristics.