Maintenance Engineer – 18‑Month Fixed‑Term Contract

About the role

KHR Recruitment Specialists is partnering with a leading international manufacturing organisation to hire a Mechanical‑bias Maintenance Engineer on an 18‑month fixed‑term contract. Based on the outskirts of Maidstone, the role will focus on improving asset reliability, developing maintenance strategies and driving continuous improvement across a complex plant.

Key responsibilities

• Develop, review and optimise preventative and predictive maintenance programmes to improve equipment reliability.
• Lead root‑cause investigations into recurring equipment failures and ensure corrective actions are implemented.
• Step in for the plant Mechanical Engineer when required.
• Coordinate condition‑monitoring activities such as vibration analysis, oil analysis, thermal imaging and lubrication programmes.
• Work with maintenance planning teams to maintain accurate schedules, spare parts lists and Bills of Materials.
• Carry out equipment criticality assessments and devise appropriate maintenance strategies.
• Identify and deliver engineering improvement projects that enhance reliability, safety and performance.
• Analyse equipment performance data using SAP PM and other systems to spot trends and improvement opportunities.
• Maintain engineering standards, technical documentation and procedures in line with ISO requirements.
• Support Management of Change activities, engineering risk assessments and safe systems of work.
• Provide technical support during planned shutdowns and assist with complex equipment issues.
• Participate in the on‑call rota to support critical plant requirements.

Required profile

• HNC in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Proven experience as a Reliability Engineer or in a similar engineering role within a manufacturing or process environment.
• Strong knowledge of preventative and predictive maintenance techniques.
• Experience leading root‑cause investigations and implementing corrective actions.
• Ability to work collaboratively with engineering, operations and maintenance planning teams.

Required skills

• SAP PM
• Vibration analysis
• Oil analysis
• Thermal imaging
• Lubrication programmes
• Preventative maintenance
• Predictive maintenance
• Root‑cause analysis
• Equipment criticality assessment
• Management of Change (MoC) processes