Plant Engineer – Food Manufacturing (Western Suburbs, VIC)

About the role

This is a hands‑on engineering leadership position within a large‑scale food manufacturing business. You will oversee maintenance operations and drive site reliability across high‑volume automated processing equipment.

Key responsibilities

• Oversee daily maintenance of processing and fabrication equipment.
• Lead and support maintenance teams during routine operations and breakdowns.
• Improve preventive, predictive, and reliability‑centred maintenance programmes.
• Allocate maintenance resources in line with production schedules and priorities.
• Champion WHS, environmental and engineering safety standards.

Required profile

• Degree in Mechanical, Electrical or related engineering discipline.
• Minimum 3 years experience in food manufacturing.
• Proven experience leading large maintenance teams.
• Strong knowledge of RCA, 5 Whys, PDCA and KPI‑driven maintenance improvements.
• Experience with refrigeration, boiler or high‑volume processing equipment is a plus.

Required skills

• Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
• 5 Whys methodology
• PDCA cycle
• KPI‑driven maintenance
• Preventive maintenance
• Predictive maintenance
• Reliability‑centred maintenance
• Refrigeration systems
• Boiler systems
• High‑volume processing equipment

What we offer

• Salary package up to about $130K + super
• Senior maintenance leadership opportunity
• Large automated processing facility
• Exposure to engineering projects and site upgrades
• Reporting to Engineering Manager and leading 1 supervisor + 40 tradespeople