What’s it all about then?

You’ll be responsible for overseeing the day to day maintenance function within your company, which means organising repairs as well as planning preventive maintenance activities.

You provide the link between the maintenance team and the production department and also organise outside contractors if they’re needed.

What might I be doing?

You’ll likely have a range of duties which include:

• Coordinating with the production department
• Planning preventive maintenance activities
• Organising maintenance staff schedules
• Liaising with external contractors
• Ensuring quality of all maintenance work performed
• Setting a positive example for other departmental staff
• Ordering stock and ensuring suitable supplies are to hand
• Overseeing day to day maintenance functions
• Reporting problems to engineering manager
• Ensuring all paperwork is kept accurately and up to date
• Making sure budget and other targets are achieved and reporting any variances

What will be expected of me?

As well has having significant maintenance experience you’ll also need to enjoy dealing with people because this will take up a fair bit of the job.

Even though you’re not on the “factory floor” anymore you might still be based in an area very close to the factory and you may have to get involved in factory activities from time to time.

When things break you might have to check out the problems because you will likely have to answer for the downtime!

What can I expect?

Generally you’ll be working a 37.5 hour week with some possibility for overtime, particularly when large scale preventive maintenance is being undertaken.

Your office will be very close to the production areas/maintenance workshop and you might spend some time every day on the factory floor, depending on what’s going on; when you’re in the office you can expect to be sitting in front of the computer screen so be ready for this too.

What about the pay?

This varies from company to company with the average being somewhere around £25,000.

What qualifications do I need to get in?

You are likely to have previous experience of working in a maintenance role and potentially already have loads of qualifications and experience under your belt already.

So your qualifications are likely to have commenced with an Apprenticeship in an engineering related subject such as electrical engineering or mechanical engineering.

Or perhaps you’ll have attended college after GCSEs for a couple of years and studied on a full time basis.

What about further training?

There are lots of different options for you which will enhance your career.

Many courses would be available through your local FE College or you might consider taking your qualification level up a notch by studying part time for a degree or foundation degree.

Check the University and College websites for details of part time courses related to engineering and also more business and management type qualifications which you may want to consider as well; these will give you a broad range of skills and may also be beneficial to your career aspirations.

Anything else I might need to know?

Yes, the Maintenance Co-ordinator role in a food company is an important one because your expertise in managing the department on a day to day basis means that senior staff have time freed up to pursue strategic work on behalf of the company.

Depending on the structure of the maintenance department you may still be required to get your hands dirty or you could also supervise the maintenance work.