Outage Planner - Mechanical Maintenance

Location: South Manchester 
Salary: 60k Competitive + Benefits
Job Type: Permanent

KPI Recruiting is working in partnership with a leading industrial manufacturing organisation to recruit an experienced Outage Planner to support Mechanical Maintenance operations at a high-performing production site.

This is a critical planning role, responsible for coordinating shutdowns, outages, and planned mechanical maintenance activities to ensure maximum asset availability, full legislative compliance, and the highest standards of Health, Safety, Quality, and Environmental performance.

The Role

Reporting into the Mechanical Systems Team Leader, the Outage Planner will play a key role in the planning, coordination, and execution of mechanical maintenance activities, including major shutdowns and outages. You will work closely with Maintenance, Production, and external contractors to ensure work is planned, resourced, and delivered safely and efficiently.

Key Responsibilities

Health, Safety & Compliance

• Promote and uphold site Health & Safety standards at all times

• Lead and participate in H&S investigations and audits

• Ensure compliance with current legislative and statutory requirements

• Prepare permits, isolations, and risk controls for planned maintenance and shutdowns

Maintenance Planning & Outages

• Create detailed outage and shutdown plans, schedules, and Gantt charts

• Schedule work orders across all disciplines using CMMS (Maximo)

• Ensure job packs, permits, materials, tools, and labour are fully prepared in advance

• Coordinate internal teams and external contractors during shutdowns

• Supervise shutdown activities when required and manage changes or delays

• Communicate progress, risks, and solutions to the Shutdown Leader

Contractor & Resource Coordination

• Plan and coordinate internal and external labour resources

• Ensure contractors meet site certification, induction, and access requirements

• Request quotations, raise purchase requests, and recommend new vendors

• Coordinate scaffolding, lifting equipment, hire tools, and specialist services

Quality & Environment

• Ensure quality-critical and environmental-critical equipment is maintained to mechanical standards

• Audit maintenance activities to ensure quality and environmental compliance

• Identify and suggest continuous improvement and innovation opportunities

CMMS & Reporting

• Maintain accurate work order data and backlog reporting in Maximo

• Support backlog management with area owners

• Support the Mechanical Planner and participate in on-call support as required

About You

Qualifications & Experience

• Time-served Mechanical Apprenticeship

• NVQ Level 3 / HNC / HND (Degree desirable)

• Minimum 3 years' experience in Mechanical Maintenance Planning and/or Supervisory roles

• Strong shutdown, outage, and maintenance scheduling experience

Technical & Professional Skills

• Strong knowledge of modern mechanical maintenance techniques

• Root Cause Analysis experience

• IOSH / NEBOSH qualified (or working towards)

• CMMS experience essential (Maximo preferred)

• Knowledge of SAP, hydraulics, pneumatics, and paper/power industries is desirable

Personal Attributes

• Strong H&S mindset with excellent communication skills

• Highly organised with strong analytical and planning capability

• Confident working cross-functionally with production and engineering teams

• Able to influence, challenge, and drive continuous improvement

What's on Offer

• Competitive salary and benefits package

• Opportunity to work on complex, high-value shutdowns and outages

• Long-term career development within a structured maintenance organisation

• Supportive team environment with strong safety and engineering culture

Apply Now

For a confidential discussion or to apply, please contact Martin Willemsen at KPI Recruiting.
All applications will be handled in strict confidence.

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