Engineering Manager
Date: 15 Jun 2026
Location: Nantwich, GB, CW5 6DN
Company: Ornua Co-operative Limited
Engineering Manager
Job title: Engineering Manager
Reports to: Head of Operations, OIE
Location: Nantwich
Salary: Generous salary available depending on experience
Hours: Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours per week with flexibility required to meet with the demands of the business
Benefits: Free Onsite Parking, 33 Days’ Holiday, Pension, Private Medical Insurance, Company Shop (offering discounts on products), Discount on Bikes and Tech Scheme, Confidential Employee Assist Programme, Employee Discount Portal.
Ornua (meaning “new gold”) is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, proudly bringing the unique taste of Irish dairy to the world for over 55 years.
Are you an experience engineering manager looking for the challenge of taking a mission driven organisation to its next level of success?
Ornua is actively seeking an Engineering Manager to join our Engineering department as we continue our growth trajectory.
As our Engineering Manager you will play a key role in leading, developing and continuously improving the calibre, systems, and processes of the Engineering function for OIEUK. You will work collaboratively with the wider Operations, peer group, other site functions and divisional counterparts.
Why Ornua?
- Ornua operates as a commercial organisation from 10 business units worldwide, including 12 production facilities located in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.
- The commercial organisation is responsible for the marketing and sales of Ornua’s consumer brands including Ireland’s most successful food export: Kerrygold.
- It also manages the procurement of Irish and non-Irish dairy products, the sale of dairy ingredients to food manufacturing and foodservice customers globally, and the implementation of de-risking and trading strategies to manage market volatility.
- Our co-operative ethos lies at the heart of how we do business as a purpose and values-led organisation, creating value for Irish dairy farming families.
- Our Values lie at the core of everything we do. Our five values encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care, and Achieve Great Things Together.
- We invest in our people and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
- Career Progression including Global Mobility opportunities.
- Comprehensive Benefits with regional specific offerings.
Why This Role Is Valuable?
Responsibilities:
- To ensure all Company and departmental guidelines are always adhered to by all team members including H & S, Hygiene, Quality etc.
- Implement maintenance and Continuous improvement practices that will deliver best in class asset performance.
- Develop technical skills of engineering team to ensure they are fully capable of optimum machine performance.
- Champion team awareness of the functional strategy, vision, objectives, goals, measures, and actions / initiatives.
- Delivery of the capex plan to budget and on time.
- Ensure the site services/facilities function delivers required performance to support site.
- Full control of contractors working to and adhering with OIEUK policies and procedures.
- Develop & manage an engineering planning process for effective PPM execution on a rolling 52 week.
- Promote cross functional working with production to increase operator engagement.
- Develop and control the engineering budget processes and report progress.
- To identify potential hazards/risks to the Health & Safety Manager/responsible person upon discovery and be proactive in ensuring corrective actions are completed in a timely and cost-effective manner.
- Maintain and improve standards of hygiene and housekeeping in all areas of the factory including the engineering office and workshop.
Key Tasks:
- Lead and positively represent the engineering function and population.
- Maintain strong relationships with all key interfaces.
- To ensure reporting on all key KPI’s with corrective actions to address any off track.
What You Bring To The Role:
- HNC/Degree or equivalent
- Extensive experience of leading and developing teams across a shift work environment
- Exposure to and knowledge of Lean manufacturing
- Demonstrable experience of managing budgets & cost centres
- Evidence of working within collaborative environments, prioritising team wins over personal gains
- Possess strong leadership, communication, planning, people leadership & organisational skills
- PC and PLC competent
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Demonstrate team skills with a positive attitude and professional approach
Our interview process is designed to be thorough yet supportive. This process includes a first stage via Teams to allow us to get to know you better and to understand your skills and experiences and, if successful, a second stage face-to-face interview that will build upon the first stage and give you the opportunity to get a feel for Ornua and the environment in which you will be working.
Ornua has ambitious growth plans and we’re building a team to help enable and accelerate that growth. We are looking for people who share our values, are curious, forward-looking, take ownership and work together to build a future for themselves and Ornua.
Would you like to make an impact?
To learn more, please visit Ornua at www.ornua.com
Ornua values diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds. We also strongly encourage women and other underrepresented groups in the manufacturing industry to apply. Your unique perspectives and experiences are highly valued and will be instrumental in driving our company’s continued success. Join us in shaping a more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable future.
Ornua is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace. We will make every effort to provide for any reasonable accessibility needs you may have during your employment with us. If you require accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process or in your role, please let us know — we’re here to support you.
Job Segment:
Sustainable Agriculture, Agriculture