Lead Engineer

About a career with Elis

About Elis

Elis is an international leader in textile, hygiene and facility services, helping businesses across a wide range of industries to operate safely, sustainably and efficiently. With a presence in 29 countries and a team of around 52,000 people, we combine the scale and stability of an international organisation with the opportunity to build a rewarding and long-term career.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. We believe in investing in our people, recognising their contribution and giving them the opportunity to develop, progress and build careers they can be proud of.

At Elis, you'll be part of a culture built on trust, respect and collaboration, where your ideas and contribution are valued. We want our people to have a voice, and our commitment to listening and acting on employee feedback was recognised when Elis UK won Best Employee Engagement Experience Initiative at the 2024 CIPD People Management Awards for our Employee Voice programme.

With opportunities across operations, engineering, logistics, sales and our head office support functions, there are many ways to develop your career with Elis.

The Opportunity

Are you an experienced engineer ready to take the next step into engineering leadership, while still staying close to the hands-on side of engineering?

We’re looking for a Lead Engineer to join our team in Leicester, working closely with our Engineering Manager to help lead the site engineering function and keep our operation performing at its best.

This is a key role within the site. You'll combine your technical engineering experience with people leadership, coaching and continuous improvement, supporting the day-to-day performance of the engineering team while helping us improve equipment reliability and overall equipment effectiveness.

You'll also act as a deputy to the Engineering Manager when required, giving you genuine responsibility and the opportunity to develop your leadership experience and take the next step in your engineering career.

If you're currently a Senior Engineer, Maintenance Team Leader, Engineering Team Leader or Maintenance Supervisor looking for more responsibility, we'd particularly like to hear from you.

What You'll Be Doing

No two days will be quite the same. You'll be working alongside our engineering and production teams to keep the site running safely and efficiently, while looking for opportunities to make things better.

• Provide hands-on leadership and technical support to the engineering team.
  Coach and mentor Engineers, Senior Engineers and Apprentices, helping to develop capability across the team.
• Support the delivery of planned preventative maintenance (PPM) and corrective maintenance.
• Help plan and coordinate engineering resources around production requirements, maintenance activity and unplanned issues.
• Support fault finding, breakdown response and corrective engineering works.
  Help oversee the installation, testing, maintenance and repair of machinery, equipment and site facilities.
• Work closely with production colleagues to improve equipment reliability and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement and help turn them into practical changes.
• Ensure safe systems of work, engineering procedures and QHSE requirements are followed.
• Support the training of engineers and operators when new machinery and equipment are introduced.
• Work with approved suppliers to source parts and machinery.
• Help ensure the site's PPM schedule is effectively managed and completed.
  Support engineering safety training and help build a strong safety culture across the site.
• Take responsibility for the engineering team during periods when the Engineering Manager is absent.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for someone who combines strong technical engineering knowledge with the ability to lead, influence and develop others.

You'll ideally have:

• Proven experience within industrial maintenance, manufacturing or a production environment.
• Strong hands-on operational maintenance experience.
• Previous supervisory, team leadership or management experience.
• Electrical and/or mechanical engineering experience.
• Experience working with PPM and corrective maintenance programmes.
• A recognised engineering qualification such as HNC, HND, NVQ Level 3, City & Guilds, a relevant engineering degree or a time-served apprenticeship.
• A practical approach to fault finding and problem solving.
• The confidence to coach, motivate and support other engineers.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to build effective working relationships across engineering and production.
• The ability to work autonomously, make decisions and drive positive change.
• Good commercial awareness and an understanding of engineering costs and budgets.

You don't need to tick every box. Experience or qualifications in any of the following would be an advantage:

• Experience implementing continuous improvement programmes.
• Experience supporting energy efficiency or sustainability initiatives.
• NEBOSH, IOSH or other relevant QHSE qualifications.
• Experience developing or coaching engineering teams.
• Experience training engineers or production operators on new machinery.
• Exposure to engineering budgets and forecasting.
• Experience working within a fast-paced, production-led environment.

Most importantly, we're looking for someone with strong practical engineering skills, a safety-first mindset and a genuine desire to solve problems and keep our operation performing at its best.

What We Offer

As part of Elis, you'll join a supportive and established international business where your contribution is valued.

We offer:

• A competitive salary
• Training and ongoing development
• Opportunities to progress your career within Elis
• The stability and opportunities that come with being part of an international organisation
• A supportive working environment where your ideas and contribution matter

Interested?

Then apply online!