This Dairy Engineering Manager job description sets out the main duties, qualifications, skills and measures of success for the role, which is also known as Plant Engineering Manager, Maintenance Manager, Site Engineering Manager or Chief Engineer. Download it free as a Word or PDF template and adapt it for your own vacancy.
| Job title | Dairy Engineering Manager |
| Also known as | Plant Engineering Manager, Maintenance Manager, Site Engineering Manager, Chief Engineer |
| Department | Dairy engineering and maintenance |
| Reports to | Operations Director |
| Direct reports | Engineering supervisors, maintenance technicians, stores staff and engineering administrator |
What does a Dairy Engineering Manager do?
Runs the engineering and maintenance function at a dairy processing site, keeping plant, utilities and buildings safe, reliable and available for production. Leads the engineering team and contractors, controls the engineering budget and drives improvements in uptime, energy use and maintenance practice.
Dairy Engineering Manager duties and responsibilities
Maintenance and plant reliability
- Run a planned and preventive maintenance programme through the CMMS
- Agree maintenance windows with production around cleaning cycles and the production plan
- Respond quickly to breakdowns and keep unplanned downtime to a minimum
- Analyse plant failures to find root causes and stop them recurring
- Plan and manage the annual site shutdown
- Arrange calibration of instruments that record critical process data
- Look after buildings, forklift trucks and site services
Utilities and energy
- Manage steam, refrigeration, compressed air, water, electricity, gas and nitrogen supplies
- Monitor energy and water use and deliver savings projects
- Control the use of oils, lubricants, refrigerant gases, tools and consumables
- Oversee effluent, waste and sludge removal contracts
Safety, hygiene and compliance
- Ensure plant is operated and maintained in line with health and safety law
- Complete statutory inspections of pressure systems, lifting equipment and electrical installations
- Review and approve risk assessments and safe systems of work for engineering tasks
- Enforce hygienic engineering practice, including tool control and clean-down after jobs in high-care areas
- Ensure all engineering staff and contractors complete site induction and basic food hygiene training
- Build HACCP, ISO 22000 and quality system requirements into engineering procedures and records
People and contractors
- Lead, motivate and develop the engineering team, including six-monthly appraisals
- Plan shift rotas, on-call cover and overtime within budget
- Identify skills gaps and arrange technical and safety training
- Select, brief and supervise contractors and make sure they follow site rules
- Recruit engineering staff and manage discipline in line with company policy
Budget, stores and projects
- Set and control the engineering budget for labour, spares, utilities and contracts
- Manage engineering stores so critical spares are on hand without excess stock
- Negotiate service contracts and review supplier performance
- Prepare capital expenditure proposals and manage engineering projects through to handover
- Report weekly on planned and unplanned downtime, causes, repair costs, overtime and call-outs
Dairy Engineering Manager qualifications and experience
Essential
- Degree or HND in mechanical, electrical or multi-skilled engineering, or equivalent
- Substantial engineering experience in food, dairy or similar process manufacturing
- Previous experience leading an engineering or maintenance team
- Working knowledge of health and safety law as it applies to plant and contractors
- Experience of planned maintenance systems and managing an engineering budget
- Ability to read and produce engineering drawings
Desirable
- Experience in milk powder, infant formula or other high-hygiene dairy production
- Recognised health and safety qualification
- Knowledge of HACCP and ISO 22000
- Experience of energy management or utilities optimisation
- Breathing apparatus and fire response training
Skills and attributes
- Leadership and team building
- Fault diagnosis and root cause analysis
- Maintenance planning
- Budget control and negotiation
- Contractor management
- Clear reporting and communication with production and quality teams
- IT skills, including CMMS and spreadsheets
How success is measured
- Plant availability and unplanned downtime
- Planned maintenance completed on schedule
- Engineering costs against budget
- Energy and water use per tonne of product
- Engineering-related safety incidents and near misses
- Engineering-related hygiene or quality non-conformances
Working conditions and safety
Site-based role covering offices, plant rooms and production areas, with PPE and hygiene rules in force. Includes a share of weekend and out-of-hours on-call cover with other senior managers.
- Follow health and safety rules and safe systems of work, and wear the correct PPE
- Follow food safety, hygiene, HACCP and quality procedures at all times
- Report hazards, accidents, near misses and concerns promptly
Dairy Engineering Manager interview questions
Use these questions to assess candidates for a Dairy Engineering Manager role. Each one includes what a good answer shows.
- How do you balance planned maintenance against breakdown response on a busy processing site?
What a good answer shows: Uses asset criticality, failure data and production windows, aiming to raise planned work and cut unplanned downtime. - How would you reduce energy use across steam, refrigeration and compressed air?
What a good answer shows: Identifies big users through metering, tackles leaks, heat recovery and controls, and builds savings into a costed plan. - How do you plan and run an annual site shutdown?
What a good answer shows: Plans scopes, contractors, spares and permits early, coordinates with production and controls safety, time and cost. - How do you manage engineering stores so critical spares are available without excess stock?
What a good answer shows: Uses criticality, lead times and usage data to set stock levels, and reviews obsolete and slow-moving items. - Production wants to delay a planned shutdown again to meet orders. What do you do?
What a good answer shows: Explains the risks with data, negotiates a realistic window and escalates if safety or reliability is at stake. - A refrigeration plant fails on a hot weekend with product in cold store. What do you do?
What a good answer shows: Protects people and product first, arranges repair and temporary cooling, and involves quality in product decisions. - How do you make sure contractors work safely and hygienically in high-care areas?
What a good answer shows: Uses induction, permits, tool control, supervision and clean-down sign-off, and stops work when standards slip. - How do you keep statutory inspections of pressure systems and lifting equipment on schedule?
What a good answer shows: Keeps a register, plans inspections ahead, acts on findings and never runs equipment past its inspection date. - How do you get the best from an engineering team made up of shift technicians and day staff?
What a good answer shows: Sets clear priorities, develops skills, shares information across shifts and handles performance fairly and consistently. - How do you identify and close skills gaps in your engineering team?
What a good answer shows: Assesses skills against plant needs, plans training and mentoring, and tracks progress through appraisals.
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Frequently asked questions
Runs the engineering and maintenance function at a dairy processing site, keeping plant, utilities and buildings safe, reliable and available for production. Leads the engineering team and contractors, controls the engineering budget and drives improvements in uptime, energy use and maintenance practice.
Employers usually look for: degree or HND in mechanical, electrical or multi-skilled engineering, or equivalent; substantial engineering experience in food, dairy or similar process manufacturing; previous experience leading an engineering or maintenance team.
A Dairy Engineering Manager usually reports to the Operations Director. Direct reports typically include engineering supervisors, maintenance technicians, stores staff and engineering administrator.
Yes. Download the free Word template, add your location, contract and salary details, and adapt the duties to your site. You can then advertise the role on Dairy Jobs.
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