AkzoNobel
Site Responsible Engineer
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
About AkzoNobel
Since 1792, we’ve been supplying the innovative paints and coatings that help to color people’s lives and protect what matters most. Our world-class portfolio of brands – including Dulux, International, Sikkens, and Interpon – is trusted by customers around the globe. We’re active in more than 150 countries and use our expertise to sustain and enhance the fabric of everyday life. Because we believe every surface is an opportunity. It’s what you’d expect from a pioneering and long-established paints company that’s dedicated to providing sustainable solutions and preserving the best of what we have today – while creating an even better tomorrow. Let’s paint the future together.
Site Responsible Engineer - Felling, Gateshead
At AkzoNobel, we've been creating innovative paints and coatings for over 200 years. Our brands – including Dulux, International, Sikkens, and Interpon – are trusted worldwide, and our manufacturing sites are central to delivering products millions rely on every day.
We’re looking for an experienced Site Responsible Engineer to join our Felling manufacturing site.
This senior engineering leadership role offers the opportunity to shape maintenance strategy, influence engineering standards, and lead a high-performing team within a COMAH-regulated chemical manufacturing environment. You’ll act as the site’s mechanical engineering authority, ensuring assets operate safely, reliably, and efficiently while developing your team and supporting the site’s long-term engineering strategy.
The Role
As Site Responsible Engineer, you’ll provide technical governance and leadership for mechanical engineering and maintenance across key production areas.
Leading a team of Engineering Supervisors and Maintenance Technicians, you’ll ensure statutory compliance, mechanical integrity, and engineering excellence, while driving continuous improvements in asset reliability, plant performance, and operational efficiency.
Working closely with Production, HSE, Process Safety, and Projects teams, you’ll influence engineering strategy, embed maintenance best practice, and help deliver the site’s capital investment programme.
Responsibilities
As the Site Responsible Engineer, you will:
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing mechanical engineering team, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Act as the site’s technical authority for mechanical engineering, ensuring engineering standards, governance, and best practice are consistently applied.
- Develop and implement maintenance and asset management strategies that improve equipment reliability, reduce downtime, and optimize lifecycle costs.
- Ensure the mechanical integrity of plant and equipment through robust maintenance, inspection, and compliance programmes.
- Own the site’s mechanical asset management strategy, ensuring the asset register, engineering documentation, and maintenance systems are accurate, up to date, and audit ready.
- Lead reliability improvement activities, including Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM), FMECA, and preventative maintenance optimisation.
- Monitor engineering KPIs and asset performance data, identifying trends and implementing improvements to enhance reliability and operational performance.
- Deliver engineering and capital projects from concept through commissioning, ensuring they are completed safely, on time, and within budget.
- Ensure statutory inspections and engineering compliance programmes are delivered in accordance with legislation, including COMAH, LOLER, PUWER, PSSR, and ATEX.
- Support Process Safety Management through HAZOP participation, Management of Change, incident investigations, and implementation of engineering improvements.
- Manage engineering contractors and external suppliers, ensuring work is completed safely and to the required standards.
- Champion Lean maintenance and structured continuous improvement to reduce maintenance costs and improve equipment performance.
- Develop engineering capability through coaching, succession planning, and supporting apprentices, graduates, and future engineering leaders.
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.
Requirements
We’re looking for an engineering leader who combines strong technical expertise with excellent people leadership. You’ll ideally have:
- Degree in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
- Significant engineering leadership experience within COMAH, chemical manufacturing, petrochemical, oil & gas, pharmaceutical, energy, or other major hazard process industries.
- A proven track record of leading multidisciplinary maintenance teams and improving engineering performance in a process manufacturing environment.
- Extensive knowledge of asset management, reliability engineering, mechanical integrity, and preventative maintenance strategies.
- Experience leading engineering improvement initiatives and capital investment projects.
- Strong understanding of engineering legislation, statutory compliance, and Process Safety Management.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
- A passion for developing people and building high-performing engineering teams.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
What Will Make You Stand Out
We’re particularly interested in candidates who have:
- Previous experience as a Site Responsible Engineer, Engineering Manager, or Senior Maintenance Manager.
- Chartered Engineer status (or are working towards accreditation).
- NEBOSH qualification.
- Experience implementing ISO 55001 Asset Management principles.
- A track record of improving reliability through modern maintenance and reliability methodologies.
- Experience developing engineering talent through coaching, mentoring, and succession planning.
What we offer at AkzoNobel
In return, we offer:
- Competitive salary and bonus opportunity.
- 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays.
- Excellent company pension.
- Income protection and life assurance.
- Private Medical Cover.
- Employee Assistance Programme.
- Staff discount at Dulux Decorator Centres.
- Flexible benefits including GymFlex, dental cover, retail discounts, and more.
For more information please visit www.akzonobel.com.
© 2024 Akzo Nobel N.V. All rights reserved.
#LI-LM1
At AkzoNobel we are highly committed to ensuring an inclusive and respectful workplace where all employees can be their best self. We strive to embrace diversity in a context of tolerance. Our talent acquisition process plays an integral part in this journey, as setting the foundations for a diverse environment. For this reason, we train and educate on the implications of our Unconscious Bias in order for our TA and hiring managers to be mindful of them and take corrective actions when applicable. In our organization, all qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability.
Requisition ID: 54803
“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