Head of Engineering

  • Yolk Recruitment Ltd
  • Mar 07, 2026
Full time Engineering

Job Description

Head of Engineering

Dorset
Up to £80,000 + Car Allowance + Bonus

Are you an experienced Engineering Manager looking for a role where you can lead, influence and make a real impact? Do you want the freedom to shape engineering strategy, elevate reliability and drive performance across a high volume manufacturing site?

A market leading FMCG manufacturer is exclusively working with Yolk Recruitment to appoint a high calibre Head of Engineering who will take full ownership of engineering performance at a major production facility in Dorset.

Reporting directly to the Site Director, this is a key senior leadership position where you'll shape the future of the site, build a high performing engineering culture and drive long term improvements to reliability and operational excellence.

Why This Role?
  • Strategic leadership role reporting into the Site Director
  • Influence long term asset care, engineering strategy and site performance
  • Lead, develop and strengthen an established engineering team
  • Ownership of reliability, continuous improvement, maintenance excellence and capital investment
  • A genuine opportunity to make lasting, measurable change across the site
The Role

As Head of Engineering, you will be responsible for engineering performance, reliability and compliance across a large scale FMCG manufacturing operation. Working closely with Operations and Senior Leadership, you'll set engineering direction, build a robust maintenance strategy and enhance overall site reliability.

Key responsibilities include:
  • Leading, coaching and developing the engineering team, driving a culture of safety, ownership and performance
  • Improving maintenance strategy, asset care and plant reliability
  • Ensuring compliance with HSE, environmental and engineering standards
  • Managing engineering budgets, maintenance expenditure and contractor performance
  • Delivering capital projects and wider site improvement initiatives
  • Driving continuous improvement using structured problem solving and RCA
  • Ensuring effective use of CMMS and maintenance planning processesWorking closely with Production to maximise uptime, OEE and operational efficiency
The Person
  • Strong leadership experience within a manufacturing engineering environment
  • Background as an Engineering Manager, Head of Engineering or senior engineering leader
  • Experience within FMCG or other fast paced, high volume industries
  • Expertise in maintenance strategy, asset reliability and engineering performance improvement
  • Experience managing teams, budgets, contractors and engineering KPIs
  • Solid understanding of CMMS and metrics such as OEE, MTBF, MTTR
  • Engineering qualifications (Apprenticeship, HNC, HND or Degree in electrical/mechanical discipline)

You'll be a confident, influential engineering leader who can inspire teams and elevate site performance.

Package
  • Up to £80,000 salary
  • Generous car allowance paid on top of salary
  • Generous annual bonus also paid on top of salary
  • 33 days holiday
  • Private healthcare & life assurance
  • Pension scheme
  • Ongoing professional development and long term career opportunities

You'll be joining a successful, well invested manufacturing organisation with strong financial performance and a long term growth strategy.

Ready for your next challenge?

This role is being exclusively managed by Yolk Recruitment, with engineering specialist Liam Reid leading the process. For a Private & Confidential discussion, please apply with an up to date CV - and feel free to include a cover letter detailing your suitability.

We also operate a referral scheme - if you know someone ideal for this role, please get in touch.

Due to high application volumes, if you have not been contacted within 7 days, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. Please check our website for future opportunities.