Reporting to the Plant Manager the Head of Maintenance is responsible for leading the maintenance, engineering and asset reliability function within a high-performance sawmilling or timber frame manufacturing environment. The role ensures that all plant, equipment, utilities, automation, facilities and maintenance systems operate safely, reliably and efficiently in support of production, quality, cost, energy and business performance objectives. The Head of Maintenance is a key member of the Site Management Leadership Team and will work closely with Operations, Health & Safety, Engineering, Production, Planning, Procurement and external partners to deliver industry-leading standards in plant reliability, preventative maintenance, continuous improvement and engineering compliance. The role requires a strong maintenance leader who can develop people, improve systems, reduce downtime, strengthen asset performance and build a proactive, data-led maintenance culture.
Knowledge & Experience
– Senior maintenance, engineering or asset reliability leadership experience within sawmilling, timber processing, timber frame manufacturing, heavy industry, FMCG, construction products, manufacturing or a comparable high-volume production environment.
– Engineering qualification in mechanical, electrical, automation, manufacturing engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent trade background supported by significant leadership experience.
– Strong knowledge of mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, automation, utility and process equipment within an industrial manufacturing environment.
– Proven experience managing maintenance teams, including fitters, electricians, technicians, engineers, planners, stores personnel and external contractors.
– Demonstrable experience implementing and improving preventative maintenance, predictive maintenance, condition-based monitoring, planned maintenance and reliability-centred maintenance strategies.
– Strong working knowledge of CMMS systems, ideally PEMAC or similar, including work order management, planning, scheduling, spare parts, purchasing, reporting and KPI tracking.
– Experience leading maintenance planning, shutdown planning, engineering projects, installations, commissioning and plant improvement activity in a live production environment.
– Strong understanding of health, safety, environmental and engineering compliance requirements, including contractor control, permits to work, risk assessment, lock-out tag-out, machine safety and statutory inspections.
– Track record of improving plant uptime, reducing unplanned downtime, increasing equipment reliability and improving maintenance response effectiveness.
– Experience managing maintenance budgets, engineering costs, energy usage, contractor spend, spare parts inventory and capital project expenditure.
– Knowledge of Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, root cause analysis, 5S, RCA, FMEA, TPM or similar operational excellence tools.
– Strong people leadership skills, with experience developing capability, coaching technical teams, managing performance and building a culture of accountability.
– Ability to analyse maintenance data, identify recurring failure modes and convert insight into practical improvement plans.
– Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across production, engineering, senior management and external supplier groups.
– High standards of organisation, planning, follow-through and attention to detail in a fast-moving operational environment.
Key Responsibilities
– Lead the site maintenance and engineering function to deliver safe, reliable and efficient plant performance across all production, processing, automation, utilities and facilities assets.
– Develop and implement the site maintenance strategy, ensuring the right balance of reactive, planned, preventative, predictive and condition-based maintenance activity.
– Build a high-performing maintenance team by setting clear expectations, developing capability, coaching team members and creating a culture of ownership, safety and continuous improvement.
– Ensure all maintenance activities are planned and carried out in line with company health, safety, environmental and engineering standards.
– Own and improve site maintenance systems, including CMMS utilisation, work order quality, maintenance scheduling, stores control, spare parts management and maintenance reporting.
– Work closely with Operations to maximise production uptime, reduce unplanned downtime and ensure maintenance priorities are aligned with production requirements.
– Lead root cause analysis for recurring breakdowns, significant downtime events, safety incidents or reliability issues, ensuring corrective actions are completed and sustained.
– Develop and maintain preventative maintenance programmes for all critical assets, ensuring schedules are risk-based, effective and continuously improved.
– Champion predictive and condition-based maintenance approaches, using data, inspection, monitoring and technical insight to move the function from reactive to proactive maintenance.
– Manage maintenance and engineering budgets, including labour, contractors, spare parts, utilities, energy, engineering services and project costs.
– Lead engineering improvement projects, equipment upgrades, installations and commissioning activity, ensuring works are delivered safely, on time, within budget and to agreed standards.
– Manage external contractors, engineering suppliers and service providers, ensuring they operate safely, efficiently and in line with site requirements, RAMS and permit controls.
– Maintain engineering compliance across statutory inspections, machine guarding, contractor control, electrical safety, pressure systems, lifting equipment, fire systems and other relevant areas.
– Support operational excellence initiatives by identifying opportunities to improve reliability, productivity, energy efficiency, waste reduction and process flow.
– Ensure effective maintenance handovers, communication routines and performance reviews are in place across shifts and support teams.
– Develop technical training plans for the maintenance team to strengthen skills in automation, electrical systems, mechanical systems, reliability and safe working practices.
– Contribute to site strategy, capital planning and business improvement activity as a key member of the Site Management Team.
– Promote a positive working environment where colleagues are treated with respect, issues are escalated early and cross-functional collaboration is encouraged.
– Maintain accurate maintenance records, reports, KPI dashboards, risk assessments, project updates and compliance documentation.
Essential Competencies
– Safety Leadership – Sets clear expectations for safe working, takes ownership of engineering compliance and leads a proactive safety culture across the maintenance function.
– Asset Reliability & Engineering Excellence – Understands how to improve plant reliability, reduce downtime and build robust maintenance systems that support high-performance manufacturing.
– People Leadership & Team Development – Leads, coaches and develops technical teams, creating accountability, engagement and capability across all levels of the maintenance function.
– Operational Focus – Works closely with production and site leadership to ensure maintenance activity supports output, quality, customer service and overall site performance.
– Planning & Organisation – Prioritises effectively, manages competing demands and ensures maintenance activity is planned, scheduled and completed to the required standard.
– Problem Solving & Root Cause Thinking – Takes a structured, practical and data-led approach to identifying reliability issues, resolving problems and preventing recurrence.
– Continuous Improvement Mindset – Challenges existing ways of working, identifies improvement opportunities and drives sustainable change across people, systems and equipment.
– Commercial Awareness – Manages budgets, resources, contractor costs, spare parts and energy-related activity with strong cost awareness and business discipline.
– Communication & Influence – Builds trusted relationships across maintenance, operations, safety, senior management, suppliers and contractors, communicating clearly and constructively.
– Accountability & Delivery – Takes ownership of commitments, follows through on actions and creates a maintenance culture focused on results, standards and continuous improvement.
Key Performance Measures
– Safety & Engineering Compliance Performance – Achievement of site safety standards, completion of statutory inspections, permit compliance, contractor safety performance and closure of engineering-related actions.
– Plant Uptime & Asset Reliability – Improvement in equipment availability, reduction in unplanned downtime and stronger reliability performance across critical assets.
– Preventative Maintenance Delivery – Completion of planned, preventative and predictive maintenance schedules on time and to the required standard.
– CMMS & Maintenance System Effectiveness – Quality of work order management, planning discipline, stores control, asset records, maintenance reporting and use of CMMS data to drive decisions.
– Breakdown Response & Root Cause Closure – Timely response to operational breakdowns, effective problem solving and completion of corrective actions for recurring or high-impact issues.
– Cost, Budget & Resource Control – Delivery of maintenance activity within agreed budgets, including labour, spare parts, contractors, utilities, energy and engineering project spend.
– Team Capability & Engagement – Development of maintenance team skills, training completion, succession strength, engagement, attendance and performance standards.
– Continuous Improvement Contribution – Delivery of measurable improvements in efficiency, reliability, waste reduction, energy performance, asset lifecycle and operational effectiveness.
Key Relationships
– Site Manager – Strategic alignment, site performance reporting, budget ownership and delivery of maintenance priorities in support of business objectives.
– Operations/Production Management Team – Daily coordination of maintenance priorities, downtime planning, production support, continuous improvement and operational problem solving.
– Health, Safety, Environmental and Quality Teams – Engineering compliance, risk management, safe systems of work, contractor control, audits, incident follow-up and regulatory standards.
– Maintenance Team – Leadership, coaching, work allocation, performance management, training, communication and development of technical capability.
– Engineering/Project Teams – Delivery of capital projects, installations, commissioning, plant upgrades, automation improvements and engineering standards.
– Procurement, Stores and Finance Teams – Spare parts control, purchasing, supplier performance, cost management, budget reporting and inventory optimisation.
– External Contractors and Service Providers – Contractor planning, technical support, compliance, project delivery, emergency response and specialist maintenance services.
– Group Engineering/Leadership Teams – Sharing of best practice, alignment on engineering standards, capital investment, reliability strategy and cross-site improvement opportunities.
