This Dairy Engineering and Capital Projects Manager job description sets out the main duties, qualifications, skills and measures of success for the role, which is also known as Engineering Projects Manager, Capex Manager, Project Engineering Manager or Site Projects Manager. Download it free as a Word or PDF template and adapt it for your own vacancy.
| Job title | Dairy Engineering and Capital Projects Manager |
| Also known as | Engineering Projects Manager, Capex Manager, Project Engineering Manager, Site Projects Manager |
| Department | Dairy engineering and maintenance |
| Reports to | General Manager – Operations |
| Direct reports | Maintenance team leaders, maintenance technicians, maintenance planner, and automation, reliability and process engineers |
What does a Dairy Engineering and Capital Projects Manager do?
Leads engineering, maintenance and capital investment at a dairy processing site making milk powder and UHT products. Keeps process plant and utilities available and reliable through planned maintenance and sound asset management, and delivers capital and improvement projects safely, on time and within budget.
Dairy Engineering and Capital Projects Manager duties and responsibilities
Maintenance and asset management
- Build and run the planned maintenance programme across utilities, milk reception, processing, drying, UHT, packing and mobile plant
- Make sure routine service tasks at every interval are completed on schedule
- Set and apply the site asset management policy, including asset criticality and maintenance strategies
- Manage the critical spares inventory, including minimum stock levels and supplier agreements
- Oversee the CMMS so that work orders, asset histories and costs are accurate
- Arrange service contracts and specialist contractors to protect plant uptime
Capital projects
- Identify, scope and cost capital projects that add capacity, improve efficiency or reduce operating cost
- Prepare business cases with cost estimates and return-on-investment analysis for senior approval
- Run several projects at once from concept through design, installation, commissioning and handover
- Set project requirements against design standards, hygienic design principles and customer needs
- Supervise contractors on site and enforce safety, permit-to-work and food safety controls
- Review plant layout and product flow whenever new or replacement equipment is planned
- Report project progress, risks and recommendations to the leadership team and board
Budgets and continuous improvement
- Prepare and manage the engineering operating budget and the long-term capital plan
- Lead the engineering and capital parts of the site continuous improvement strategy
- Use Lean and root cause tools to cut downtime, energy use and maintenance cost
- Track and report engineering KPIs, spending and performance against plan
- Provide engineering input to the annual business plan for each production area
Food safety and quality
- Make sure all engineering work follows HACCP, good manufacturing practice and hygiene rules
- Train maintenance staff and contractors in food safety, hygiene and foreign body controls
- Support the calibration programme for CCP and quality-critical instruments
- Work with the quality team on audits, corrective actions and regulatory inspections
Health, safety and environment
- Develop and apply safety and risk management plans for all engineering activities
- Keep the site compliant with health and safety, pressure systems, electrical and environmental law
- Support plans to reduce effluent, emissions and energy use
- Investigate incidents and put corrective actions in place to reduce injury rates
People and stakeholders
- Lead, develop and motivate the engineering and maintenance team
- Plan technical training and professional development for engineers and technicians
- Manage site inductions for engineering staff and contractors
- Build effective relationships with regulators, insurers, suppliers and consultants
Dairy Engineering and Capital Projects Manager qualifications and experience
Essential
- Degree in mechanical, chemical, electrical or industrial engineering, or a related technical discipline
- At least five years' experience as an engineering or maintenance manager in manufacturing
- Proven record of leading capital projects from business case through to commissioning
- Experience setting up and running a CMMS and planned maintenance systems
- Working knowledge of HACCP and the regulations that apply to food manufacture
- Experience managing contractors, service agreements and budgets
Desirable
- Experience in dairy, nutritional or other food processing
- Lean or Six Sigma qualification (Green Belt or Black Belt)
- Knowledge of automation and process control systems integration
- Experience of spray drying or UHT plant
- Chartered or incorporated engineer status
Skills and attributes
- Leadership and team development
- Project and programme management
- Financial planning and cost control
- Analytical problem solving
- Clear communication at every level of the business
- Negotiation and contract management
- Stakeholder management
How success is measured
- Plant availability and OEE against target
- Planned maintenance completed on time
- Engineering costs within budget
- Capital projects delivered on time, on budget and to specification
- Safety incident and lost-time injury rates
- Audit findings closed within agreed timescales
Working conditions and safety
Site-based role in a food production environment with PPE and hygiene controls. Safety-sensitive role that may involve drug and alcohol testing, with occasional out-of-hours and on-call work during breakdowns, shutdowns and commissioning.
- 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 and Capital Projects Manager interview questions
Use these questions to assess candidates for a Dairy Engineering and Capital Projects Manager role. Each one includes what a good answer shows.
- How do you build a business case for a capital project, such as adding drying capacity?
What a good answer shows: Defines scope, costs, risks and benefits, calculates payback or return, and presents clear options for approval. - Which hygienic design principles do you apply when specifying new process equipment?
What a good answer shows: Knows cleanability, drainability, suitable materials, avoiding dead legs, CIP coverage and validating that cleaning works. - How do you set asset criticality and choose maintenance strategies on a powder and UHT site?
What a good answer shows: Ranks assets by safety, food safety and production impact, and matches maintenance strategies to likely failure modes. - How would you manage the commissioning and handover of a new UHT line?
What a good answer shows: Uses agreed test plans and insists on documentation, training, spares and CMMS set-up before accepting the equipment. - A key project is running six weeks late and over budget. How would you respond?
What a good answer shows: Finds the causes, re-plans, controls further cost and reports honestly to leadership with options and recommendations. - A dryer breakdown threatens a large customer order. How would you manage the recovery?
What a good answer shows: Mobilises the right people and spares, gives operations realistic timings and reviews the root cause afterwards. - How do you manage safety and food safety when contractors install equipment next to a running plant?
What a good answer shows: Uses segregation, permits, inductions, foreign body controls and daily coordination with production and quality. - How do you make sure CCP instruments are calibrated and recorded correctly?
What a good answer shows: Keeps a calibration schedule, uses traceable standards, records results and involves quality when an instrument fails. - How do you keep maintenance performance strong while your team is also delivering several projects?
What a good answer shows: Prioritises clearly, protects planned maintenance resource, delegates well and gives stakeholders realistic timescales. - How do you build good working relationships with regulators, insurers and contractors?
What a good answer shows: Communicates openly, keeps commitments, shares information early and deals with problems honestly.
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Frequently asked questions
Leads engineering, maintenance and capital investment at a dairy processing site making milk powder and UHT products. Keeps process plant and utilities available and reliable through planned maintenance and sound asset management, and delivers capital and improvement projects safely, on time and within budget.
Employers usually look for: degree in mechanical, chemical, electrical or industrial engineering, or a related technical discipline; at least five years' experience as an engineering or maintenance manager in manufacturing; proven record of leading capital projects from business case through to commissioning.
A Dairy Engineering and Capital Projects Manager usually reports to the General Manager – Operations. Direct reports typically include maintenance team leaders, maintenance technicians, maintenance planner, and automation, reliability and process engineers.
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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