Area Engineering Manager

Area Engineering Manager

Ashby de la Zouch (Home of Hula Hoops, Space Raiders, Nik Naks and more)

Shift: Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm

Join our snack-loving team

We’re looking for an Area Engineering Manager to join us at KP Snacks. If you're an inspiring leader with a passion for engineering excellence, continuous improvement and developing people, this could be your next big opportunity.

Who are we?

We’re KP Snacks, part of the Intersnack family. Across more than 30 countries, over 15,000 of us work together to make the snacks people love – from Hula Hoops to McCoy’s. In the UK, we’re a team of around 2,400 colleagues, based across seven sites and our Slough HQ. We’re proud of our close-knit culture, where we speak up, celebrate differences and push boundaries together.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join a site that is investing in its future. As our Area Engineering Manager, you'll play a key role in supporting significant growth initiatives, helping to embed new production capability and maximise the performance of world-class manufacturing equipment.

You'll lead a team of Maintenance Leads and Engineers, creating a culture of accountability, development and continuous improvement. Working closely with operational and strategic stakeholders, you'll drive engineering performance, equipment reliability and operational excellence across your area.

This role is ideal for someone who combines strong technical expertise with a growth mindset. You'll have the opportunity to influence change, contribute to major improvement projects and help shape the future of engineering at the site. If you're motivated by developing people, delivering results and leaving things better than you found them, we'd love to hear from you.

What’s in it for you?
We believe in rewarding our colleagues and helping them thrive. Here’s a flavour of what we offer:

• Competitive annual salary, annual salary review and annual bonus opportunity (target 7.5%), plus a £6,000 car allowance.

• KP Pension Plan with up to 7% matched contributions

• 25 days holiday, with the option to buy up to five additional days, plus additional holiday after five years’ service

• Comprehensive healthcare including Single Cover Private Healthcare, Health Cash Plan, Digital GP and Employee Assistance Programme

• Electric Vehicle Car Scheme, supporting more sustainable and cost-effective travel

• KP4ME benefits platform with discounts, cashback and wellbeing support

• Enhanced family-friendly policies to support colleagues at every stage of life

What will you be doing?

• Leading and developing engineering teams - Coach, support and develop Maintenance Leads and Engineering colleagues, building capability and creating a high-performing culture

• Driving reliability and performance - Ensure equipment operates safely and efficiently through effective preventative maintenance planning, resource management and continuous improvement activity

• Supporting site growth and investment projects - Play a key role in the implementation and optimisation of new production lines and equipment, helping deliver strategic growth objectives

• Improving engineering standards and processes - Drive improvements in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), downtime reduction, maintenance strategies and asset performance

• Collaborating across the site leadership team - Work closely with operational and strategic stakeholders to deliver projects, manage priorities and support the site's long-term engineering vision

We’d love to hear from you if you can bring:

• Engineering qualifications and technical expertise - Qualified in Mechanical and/or Electrical Engineering (HNC/HND, Degree, or equivalent). FMCG manufacturing experience, and knowledge of CMMS, TPM, and RCA methodologies desirable.

• People leadership experience - Previous experience leading, coaching and developing engineering teams, with a genuine passion for helping others succeed

• A continuous improvement mindset - Experience identifying opportunities to improve reliability, efficiency, performance and ways of working

• Strong planning and organisational skills - Able to balance reactive priorities while delivering preventative maintenance programmes and longer-term objectives

• Excellent stakeholder management skills - Confident working with colleagues at all levels to influence decisions, solve problems and deliver results

• Project or budget management experience - Exposure to capital projects, site investment programmes or budget management would be advantageous, but is not essential

Our purpose
At KP Snacks, we're passionate about creating happy snacking moments through our great tasting snacks and iconic brands. Every day, millions of people enjoy our products, including Hula Hoops, McCoy's, KP Nuts, Tyrrells, Skips, POM-BEAR and Butterkist, making us one of the UK's leading snack manufacturers.

For decades, we've been delighting consumers by combining well-loved favourites with exciting innovations that reflect changing tastes and expectations. We're equally passionate about our people and committed to creating a workplace where everyone can grow, develop and make a real impact.

As part of the Intersnack Group, one of the world's leading snack manufacturers, we combine global expertise with a shared commitment to creating happy snacking moments every day.

We’re committed to inclusion
We’re building a workplace where everyone belongs. If you don’t tick every box, we’d still love to hear from you – your unique perspective could be just what we need. And if there’s anything we can do to make the process easier for you, just let us know.

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