Head of Engineering: Automated Warehouse (ASRS)

The role

HighGate4 is our flagship automated distribution centre. It runs a 7-crane ASRS, shuttles, carousel, conveyors and miniload on EasyWMS. You'll lead our existing team of 5 warehouse maintenance engineers and own the reliability of every automated asset on site.

The site is in its early years after go-live and has reliability problems to solve. Your job is to move the team from fixing faults to stopping them coming back.

What you'll own

Team leadership. Lead, develop and hold the engineering team to account. Set clear standards for response, repair quality and documentation. Build cover so support doesn't depend on one person.

Uptime and recovery. Own downtime response across cranes, shuttles, conveyors and miniload. Make sure the team restores operation safely without masking root causes.

Planned maintenance. Own the PPM programme and CMMS. Make sure PPM is completed to standard and never deferred silently. Set critical spares based on failure history and lead times.

Reliability. Lead root cause analysis on repeat and high impact failures. Set and deliver targets for availability, MTBF and MTTR.

Electrical and controls. Lead diagnosis of electrical, PLC, drive and network faults. Enforce safe isolation and controlled change on all panels. Keep drawings, labelling and change records accurate.

Supplier management. Act as the technical counterpart to our automation suppliers. Establish who owns each fault, evidence defects, enforce warranty and SLA terms, and give technical sign-off on upgrades.

Safety and compliance. Own engineering compliance under PUWER, the Electricity at Work Regulations, LOLER where applicable, and engineering RAMS.

Data. Use SCADA, fault logs and downtime data to decide where the team focuses. Make sure downtime is logged and categorised accurately.

You'll report to the Operations Manager and work daily with the Warehouse Managers and our Automation & WMS Super User. Engineering owns mechanical and electrical faults. WMS configuration sits with the Super User.

What you'll bring

Essential

Experience leading maintenance or engineering teams on an automated warehouse or high-throughput manufacturing site

Strong electrical and controls fault-finding: PLCs (Siemens or similar), drives, industrial networks, working from drawings

Solid knowledge of UK engineering safety legislation

A track record of raising standards in an existing team and managing contractors

Desirable: ASRS, stacker crane or shuttle experience (Mecalux especially), CMMS implementation, commissioning or SAT, 18th Edition, RCA or FMEA. If you're strong on the essentials, apply anyway.

Your first year

PPM completed to standard and tracked in the CMMS

A measurable rise in availability and fall in repeat faults

Engineering cover in place with no single point of failure

HG4 diagnosing and recovering from most faults without waiting on a supplier

Monday to Friday 9am - 6pm with occasional weekend work

Pay: £50,000.00-£60,000.00 per year

Benefits

Employee discount

Free parking

On-site parking

Experience

People Management: 2 years (required)

Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems: 1 year (preferred)

Work authorisation

United Kingdom (required)

Work Location: In person