Head of Engineering
Rainham, Essex
Reporting to: Operations Director
About U
sFrive 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 greatne
ss
Miss
ionWe help busy people enjoy natural, healthy eating with ready-to-eat meals delivered to their door, proven to support their health goa
ls.
Vi
sionTo transform health by revolutionising eating habits and restoring food to its natural f
orm.
V
- alues
Empowerment: We empower our people to make strong, independent decisions with conf - idenceTransparency: We share information openly and with int
- entionOpen Communication: We communicate directly and ho
- nestlyHigh Performance: We foster an environment that attracts, retains, and rewards high perfo
- rmanceAgility: We encourage flexibility in our people by reducing blockers and prioritising their creativity and produc
tivity
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 envir
onment.
Leadership &
- StrategyLead and develop a newly formed engineering team with 5 direct reports across maintenance, projects, and reli
- ability.Drive a clear engineering vision and strategy aligned with business and productio
- n goals.Foster a high-performance culture through coaching, objective setting, and regular f
- eedback.Provide technical leadership and mentoring across the engineering f
- unction.Represent engineering in senior leadership and cross-functional
- forums.Report engineering KPIs and provide insight to senior lea
dership.
Compliance &am
- p; SafetyEnsure full compliance with Health & Safety, Food Safety, and legislative requirements (e.g., BRCGS, HACCP, HSE regu
- lations).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 ins
- pections.Be the site lead for engineering audits, both internal and external (customer, reg
- ulatory).Implement best-in-class practices in automation, energy efficiency, and sustai
nability.
Maintenance & R
- eliabilityOwn the delivery and execution of Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) and asset care p
- rogrammes.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 MTB
F metrics.
Capital Projects & Continuous
- ImprovementFoster a culture of continuous improvement using lean tools and root cause analysis to reduce downtime and drive p
- erformance.Manage site engineering capital projects from business case to com
- missioning.Lead investment planning to support growth, automation, and sustainability i
- nitiatives.Collaborate cross-functionally with operations, quality, supply chain and commercial teams on CI initiatives to support operation
al targets.
Budget & Contracto
- r ManagementDevelop, 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 &am
- p; ExperienceProven leadership experience in a senior engineering role within FMCG or chilled food/ready meals m
- anufacturing.Degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Manufacturing Engineering (or
- equivalent).Deep knowledge of food safety regulations and audit standards (e.g., B
- RCGS, HACCP).Hands-on experience with high-speed production lines, automation, and packa
- ging systems.Demonstrated experience delivering capital projects and managing multi-million-p
- ound budgets.Strong experience with CMMS systems (SAP, Infor,
- or similar).Excellent knowledge of Lean principles and continuous impro
vement tools.
Behaviours &
- ; CompetenciesStrategic and operational thinker with a hands-on lea
- dership style.Safety- and quality-
- first mindset.Strong coaching, communication, and stakeholder mana
- gement skills.Analytical problem-solver who thrives u
- nder pressure.Proactive, results-driven, and comme
- rcially aware.Resilient, adaptable, and committed to team development
and inclusion.
What’s
in It for You?Private Me
dical Insurance25 days H
oliday + PublicBonus (paid ou
t twice a year)50% Discount off o
ur amazing foodHybrid
working patternCycle
to Work SchemeEnhanced
parental leaveMintago Financial Wel
lbeing Platf
orm
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 pur
pose and vision.
