Head of Engineering
Rainham, Essex
Reporting to: Operations Director
About Us
Frive is on a mission to revolutionise healthy eating with 100% natural, ready-to-eat meals. As the UK’s highest-rated ready-to-eat meal brand, we’ve delivered over 10 million meals - and we’re just getting started. Frive (formerly Lions Prep) is the UK’s highest-rated ready-to-eat meal delivery subscription, delivering tens of thousands of fresh, natural, chef-prepared meals to customers’ doors across the UK each week. We are committed to our vision of creating 100% organic meals without the hefty price tag, freeing us from a food system that compromises our health for profit.
We work with people from all different backgrounds and communities and recognise our own biases. We strive to create a strong sense of belonging and believe we will be better equipped to achieve our goals by building a team that approaches problems from different angles, using different perspectives and experiences to solve problems. All qualified applicants will be considered and we have no regard for age, ethnicity, ability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation the more the merrier, and together we can achieve greatness
Mission
We help busy people enjoy natural, healthy eating with ready-to-eat meals delivered to their door, proven to support their health goals.
Vision
To transform health by revolutionising eating habits and restoring food to its natural form.
Values
- Empowerment: We empower our people to make strong, independent decisions with confidence
- Transparency: We share information openly and with intention
- Open Communication: We communicate directly and honestly
- High Performance: We foster an environment that attracts, retains, and rewards high performance
- Agility: We encourage flexibility in our people by reducing blockers and prioritising their creativity and productivity
Your Impact:
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Head of Engineering to lead our engineering function at a fast-paced, high-volume food manufacturing facility in Rainham, Essex. As a senior leader, you will be responsible for driving engineering strategy, ensuring asset reliability, compliance, and continuous improvement across our production operations. This is a critical role in ensuring operational excellence, equipment performance, and the delivery of high-quality products to customers in a competitive FMCG environment.
Leadership & Strategy
- Lead and develop a newly formed engineering team with 5 direct reports across maintenance, projects, and reliability.
- Drive a clear engineering vision and strategy aligned with business and production goals.
- Foster a high-performance culture through coaching, objective setting, and regular feedback.
- Provide technical leadership and mentoring across the engineering function.
- Represent engineering in senior leadership and cross-functional forums.
- Report engineering KPIs and provide insight to senior leadership.
Compliance & Safety
- Ensure full compliance with Health & Safety, Food Safety, and legislative requirements (e.g., BRCGS, HACCP, HSE regulations).
- Champion a proactive safety culture with robust risk assessments, permits to work, and contractor controls.
- Lead on engineering aspects of internal and external audits and regulatory inspections.
- Be the site lead for engineering audits, both internal and external (customer, regulatory).
- Implement best-in-class practices in automation, energy efficiency, and sustainability.
Maintenance & Reliability
- Own the delivery and execution of Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) and asset care programmes.
- Embed condition-based monitoring and root cause analysis processes to improve reliability and minimise downtime.
- Ensure effective use of CMMS to plan, track and optimise all maintenance activity.
- Drive measurable improvements in OEE, availability, and MTBF metrics.
Capital Projects & Continuous Improvement
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement using lean tools and root cause analysis to reduce downtime and drive performance.
- Manage site engineering capital projects from business case to commissioning.
- Lead investment planning to support growth, automation, and sustainability initiatives.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with operations, quality, supply chain and commercial teams on CI initiatives to support operational targets.
Budget & Contractor Management
- Develop, manage, and report on the engineering budget including labour, spares, services, and capex.
- Ensure robust contractor management processes are in place, including permits, H&S compliance and performance monitoring.
- Evaluate supplier performance and negotiate favourable commercial terms where appropriate.
- Identify cost-saving opportunities while maintaining quality and compliance.
Key Skills & Experience
- Proven leadership experience in a senior engineering role within FMCG or chilled food/ready meals manufacturing.
- Degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Manufacturing Engineering (or equivalent).
- Deep knowledge of food safety regulations and audit standards (e.g., BRCGS, HACCP).
- Hands-on experience with high-speed production lines, automation, and packaging systems.
- Demonstrated experience delivering capital projects and managing multi-million-pound budgets.
- Strong experience with CMMS systems (SAP, Infor, or similar).
- Excellent knowledge of Lean principles and continuous improvement tools.
Behaviours & Competencies
- Strategic and operational thinker with a hands-on leadership style.
- Safety- and quality-first mindset.
- Strong coaching, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
- Analytical problem-solver who thrives under pressure.
- Proactive, results-driven, and commercially aware.
- Resilient, adaptable, and committed to team development and inclusion.
What’s in It for You?
Private Medical Insurance
25 days Holiday + Public
Bonus (paid out twice a year)
50% Discount off our amazing food
Hybrid working pattern
Cycle to Work Scheme
Enhanced parental leave
Mintago Financial Wellbeing Platform
What's next?
If you are interested in learning more about the role and think this could be for you, then don't hesitate and apply now. We look forward to hearing from you and love hearing from people who are passionate about our purpose and vision.
