About the role The Refrigeration Maintenance Manager is accountable for delivering safe, compliant, and high‑performing refrigeration maintenance across circa 200 retail sites, covering areas from Grimsby to Nottingham. Leading a team of 15 service technicians and 2 apprentices, the role drives maintenance strategy, service standards, and continuous improvement while ensuring strong performance against KPIs such as response times and first‑time fix rates. You will provide technical leadership, ensure compliance with F‑Gas and health & safety legislation, manage budgets and costs, and deliver a reliable, legally compliant estate for customers, colleagues, and stakeholders. What is in it for you We’re all about the little helps. That’s why we make sure our Tesco colleague benefits package takes care of you – both in and out of work. Click Here to find out more!
- Annual bonus scheme of up to 20% of base salary.
- Holiday starting at 25 days plus a personal day (plus Bank holidays).
- Private medical insurance.
- 26 weeks maternity and adoption leave (12 months service required at the qualifying date) at full pay, followed by 13 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay, we also offer 6 weeks fully paid paternity leave.
- Free 24/7 virtual GP service, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for you and your family, free access to a range of experts to support your mental wellbeing.
- Lead refrigeration maintenance strategy, standards, and continuous improvement across 200 retail stores
- Manage contractor performance and represent Operations at performance and governance reviews
- Provide expert technical support, including escalations and complex fault resolution
- Ensure consistent processes, safe systems of work, and full legal and regulatory compliance
- Drive cost reduction, operational efficiency, and year‑on‑year KPI improvements
- Lead technical projects, system enhancements, and planned maintenance development
- Provide national visibility of compliance risks, issues, and improvement actions
- Develop and deliver annual improvement plans and summer resilience strategies
- Build strong relationships with retail, property, engineering, safety teams, and external contractors
- Ensure high‑quality execution and close‑out of planned and reactive maintenance activities
Operational skills
- Stakeholder communication and influencing
- Data analysis and KPI management
- Change and project management
- Advanced problem solving and root cause analysis
- Strong IT skills (EAM systems, Office 365)
- Technical report writing
Experience
- Significant leadership experience in maintenance engineering
- Experience managing large, remote or multi‑site engineering operations
- Senior stakeholder and contractor management experience
- Qualified in an engineering discipline (or time‑served equivalent)
- Advanced refrigeration engineering knowledge, including controls and remote monitoring
- In‑depth understanding of gas and refrigeration compliance legislation
- Knowledge of asset lifecycle management and maintenance methodologies
- Professional registration desirable