Job Description

Company: Dawn Meats

Job Title: Maintenance Manager

Contract Type: Permanent, Full time

Location: Carrolls Cross, Co. Waterford

Dawn Meats is a premium meat processor and supplier of choice for a range of leading supermarket, foodservice and restaurant businesses. Established in 1980, Dawn Meats is an industry leader with annual revenues of over €4.5bn, employing over 12,000 staff in 13 countries and exporting to over 70 countries.

The successful candidate will support our Carrolls Cross production facility through the management of an efficient and effective engineering function. This involves implementing the KPIs determined at site level with regards to planned and preventative maintenance, reaction time to breakdowns, cost control etc. Furthermore, to deal with unforeseen work and ensure the appropriate deployment of resource including contractors within agreed budgets.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be based at our Carrolls Cross production facility in Co. Waterford and will have the following responsibilities:

• Cascade and deliver the key business objectives and performance targets determined both at Group and site level for the Maintenance Department.
• Monitor and control maintenance costs in line with budgetary requirements, obtaining the necessary authorization in line with Group policies and procedures.
• Provide leadership to the site engineering team – coaching engineers during breakdowns and overseeing time critical repairs.
• Manage and direct the day-to-day operations of the Maintenance team, including determining needed repairs and improvements, establishing project priorities and assigning work tasks, scheduling work to most effectively meet the needs of production with minimal disruption.
• Plan scheduled work and respond accordingly to unforeseen work activity ensuring the competence of the engineering team to meet these requirements.
• Best utilize internal and external 3rd party resource to deal appropriately with those situations that occur on site, depending on capability, specialism and skill set.

• Manage and advise on third party site contracts communicating appropriately with the Site Operations Manager and Group Engineering Manager on costs, SLAs and ongoing satisfaction with contractors.
• Improve the production facilities and reduce the number of costly breakdown incidents by developing proactive maintenance strategies to improve overall reliability of the plant, personnel and production processes.
• Promote initiatives that support the overall motivation, training, development and deployment of employee resources within maintenance.
• Manage and maintain all Site Utilities (Electricity, Water, Air, Refrigeration etc.) utilizing the site Engineering team and external contracts as required to ensure continuity and quality of service.

Qualifications

Your role will see you tackle a wide range of business challenges in a busy Engineering environment.

The ideal Candidate will have or demonstrate

• Trade‑qualified in a mechanical or electrical discipline, or third‑level qualification in Engineering, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in an engineering or maintenance role within an industrial or manufacturing environment, preferably within the food manufacturing sector.
• Demonstrated experience leading, supervising, or managing engineering or maintenance teams within a fast‑paced operational environment.
• Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to manage maintenance activities, improvement projects, and team workloads effectively.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
• Proven people management capability, including coaching, mentoring, performance management, and team development
• Willingness to travel between company sites within the Republic of Ireland and the UK as required

INDLP