Hands-on Maintenance Manager role leading an established trades team. Drive reliability, develop your people

Your new company

Our client is an established Australian-owned food manufacturer with a strong reputation for quality, reliability and continuous improvement. An opportunity has arisen for an experienced Maintenance Manager to lead the site's maintenance function, develop the maintenance team and improve plant reliability and performance.

Your new role

Reporting to the Executive Director, you will lead the maintenance function across plant reliability, preventative maintenance, breakdowns, contractors, costs and team development. This is a genuinely hands-on leadership role. While you'll be responsible for leading the maintenance function, you'll also be expected to get onto the floor, work alongside your trades team and use your technical experience to troubleshoot and solve problems when required. People-first leadership will be a major focus. You'll build solid relationships with your team, coach and develop tradespeople and create a culture of accountability, teamwork and ownership.

Key responsibilities include

- Leading and developing the maintenance team.
- Supporting breakdowns and technical fault-finding when required.
- Reducing downtime and improving plant reliability.
- Driving preventative maintenance and planning.
- Managing contractors, costs, spare parts and inventory.




- Supporting equipment upgrades and capital projects.
- Driving continuous improvement across the site.
- Ensuring maintenance meets safety and quality requirements.

What you'll need to succeed

- Maintenance leadership experience within food, FMCG or similar manufacturing.
- Ideally a qualified Maintenance Fitter / Mechanical Fitter by trade.
- A hands-on approach and strong technical knowledge.
- A genuine people-first leadership style with experience developing tradespeople.
- Strong preventative maintenance, breakdown and reliability experience.
- Experience managing contractors, costs and spare parts.
- Strong communication and problem-solving skills.

What you'll get in return

- Ownership of the site's maintenance function with a direct report to the executive director.
- Lead and develop an established trades team of 8–10 people.
- Work closely with senior leadership
- $150K - $170K Super
- Make a genuine impact on reliability and plant performance.
- Hands-on environment where your trade background is valued.
- Opportunity to drive site-wide continuous improvement.

What you need to do now

If you're a hands-on Maintenance Manager with a strong mechanical background who enjoys leading people and improving plant reliability, apply now or contact Keanu White on 0490 440 or @hays.com.au for a confidential discussion.

#3021070

📌 Maintenance Manager (West Melbourne)
🏢 Hays Recruitment
📍 West Melbourne