Gafoor Ltd
Head of Engineering - Food Manufacturing
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Job Title: Head of Engineering
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK (Relocation assistance available)
Salary: £70,000
Are you ready to apply? Make sure you understand all the responsibilities and tasks associated with this role before proceeding.
£80,000 per annum dependent on experience, specifically in relation to candidates with experience in the meat/poultry processing sector
Job type: Full time, Permanent
Shape the Future of Engineering at Gafoor
This is an opportunity to build, influence and transform.
Gafoor is a fast-growing, family-owned food manufacturing business supplying major UK grocery, retail and wholesale customers from our modern, BRC-accredited facility in Preston.
With 500 employees and a 24/5 operation spanning live intake through to finished product distribution, we are at a pivotal stage in our growth.
We are investing in capability, infrastructure and leadership and we are looking for a Head of Engineering.
About the Role
Why This Role is Different
You will have:
- Strategic influence
- A seat at the leadership table, shaping investment and integration of new technology.
- Autonomy
- The scope to design and implement a best-in-class engineering roadmap.
- Transformation opportunity
- The mandate to elevate engineering culture and embed preventative and predictive maintenance excellence.
- Commercial impact
- Direct accountability for OEE, downtime reduction, cost control and performance optimisation.
- Real scale
- Leadership of a multi skilled engineering team supporting a complex, high-throughput food manufacturing environment.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
This role offers the rare balance of hands-on operational leadership and long-term strategic direction.
Please note that sponsorship is not available for this role and therefore candidates must have the legal right to live and work in the UK to be considered.
What You'll Be Responsible For
- Driving cultural change and engineering excellence across the function
- Embedding a robust preventative and predictive maintenance framework
- Delivering measurable improvements in availability, efficiency and waste reduction
- Managing KPI performance, budgets and contractor relationships
- Leading a structured program of capital expenditure
- Ensuring engineering compliance with BRC requirements/standards
- Aligning engineering capability with ambitious business growth plans
- Be an active member of the company's leadership team and play a key role in shaping the day-to-day management and culture of the wider team.
This is a visible leadership role requiring flexibility to support a 24/5 operation.
Who Will Thrive Here/What we are looking for
You will be an experienced engineering leader from a food manufacturing background
- ideally meat or poultry processing
- who combines technical credibility with commercial acumen.
You will bring:
- Degree-level (or equivalent) Engineering qualification
- Proven success leading multi-skilled engineering teams
- Strong experience implementing preventative maintenance and CI programmes
- Experience of managing 3rd party contractors and CDM compliance
- Experience managing capital expenditure projects
- Excellent I.T skills, all standards Microsoft packages
- Experience within BRC or similarly regulated environments
- A track record of improving OEE and operational performance
- The confidence to influence at board and shop-floor level
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Most importantly, you will be motivated by building something stronger than what you inherited.
What You Gain/Why Join Gafoor
- Competitive salary with flexibility for sector expertise
- Relocation package for candidates relocating (Relocation budget up to £5000)
- Genuine leadership influence within a growing, ambitious business
- The opportunity to shape culture, standards and long-term engineering strategy
- Free parking and onsite canteen serving fresh hot meals each day
- A business that values performance, accountability and continuous improvement
- Staff shop / discounted products
- PPE and uniform provided
- Enhanced pension and holiday entitlement with continuous service
If you are seeking the chance to join a well-established company at an exciting stage in their growth, please click the APPLY button to send your CV in for immediate consideration.
Candidates with experience or relevant job titles of; Engineering Manager, Mechanical Engineer, Multi Skilled Engineering Manager, Multiskilled Engineer, Senior Engineer, Engineering Team Leader, Maintenance Manager, Manufacturing Engineer Manager, Senior Production Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Design Engineering, Installation Engineer, Multi-skilled Engineer, Maintenance Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, may also be considered for this role.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location