Head of Engineering – Capital Projects

About Us: 

William Grant & Sons Ltd. is a highly profitable, independent, family-owned Scottish company that distils Scotch whisky and other selected categories of spirits.  

We were established in 1887 by William Grant, and are now managed by the descendants of our founder. We are the largest of the Scotch whisky distillers remaining in family ownership. The company is the third largest producer of Scotch whisky (10.4% market share) after Diageo (34.4%), and Pernod Ricard and has offices and all over the world. These offices include New York, Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore and of course our central headquarters in Strathclyde Business Park, near Glasgow and our Sales & Marketing headquarters in London.  

At William Grant & Sons we are defined by our history and inspired by the future. We will always remain true to our heritage but also have ambitious growth plans and a stretching vision to become the most coveted branded spirits company in the world. We know that we will only achieve this with the full contribution and commitment of all our employees.  

Our values shape the way we work together and living these values is key to helping us achieve our vision. They give all our global employees a common framework for guiding how we act, do business and make decisions. We share the same set of values as our Family Shareholders, ensuring that we keep a strong connection with them and stay true to our fantastic heritage.  

It was the dream of William Grant to make the ‘best dram in the valley’ and five generations later, this still holds true. William Grant & Sons distils some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including Glenfiddich®, the world’s favourite single malt, The Balvenie® range of handcrafted single malts and Grant’s®, one of the world’s most loved blended Scotches.  

In addition, we now have one of Ireland’s finest Irish Whiskeys, Tullamore D.E.W.® and premium liqueur, Drambuie®. The company also continues to lead the way in spirits innovation, for example with the delightfully curious Hendrick’s® Gin and our Caribbean spiced rum, Sailor Jerry® Rum. Our award winning portfolio also includes Monkey Shoulder® Triple Malt Whisky, Tequila Milagro and Reyka® Vodka. 

The Opportunity:

With consistent forecasted growth and further investment in innovation and operational excellence ahead, the need has arisen to recruit a talented senior engineering professional to lead the Capital Projects engineering programme management within the business.  

The role will develop and implement the engineering plan for the business including the responsibility for Capital and Special Revenue budget/spend across the WG&S Operations Business Unit and will deliver performance and results in line with the overall business and site strategy ensuring operations are compliant and relevant in legislation. 

Accountabilities: 

• Manage and oversee the delivery of engineering projects that are not covered in the normal scope of the maintenance teams and through pre-planned maintenance activities.  
• Identify and develop comprehensive Engineering expertise in WG&S, utilising this to address current plant issues, replacement requirements, capacity increases, productivity increases, health & safety, and environmental improvement initiatives.  
• Deliver the ongoing development and continuous improvement of best practice technical activities, to support sustainable plant / infrastructure setup and implementation of value adding engineering practices.  
• Identify and quantify development plans into Site Master plans, OBU 5-years, and relevant budgets with the appropriate justification.  
• Evaluate project prioritisation exercises, and manage delivery for projects that are to be progressed:  
• Detailing project concept and approach, ensuring comprehensive and technically realistic requirements  
• Conducting financial analysis, and provide suitable justifications, leading to full capex submissions with clear investment cases  
• Identifying potential suppliers, develop optimal sourcing approach, tender for best overall costs, and fine-tune chosen option to deliver maximum value-add with appropriate contractual protections  
• Delivering projects to full satisfaction of operational teams, in line with approved project scope and quality, and ensuring optimal cost and timelines. 
• Ensuring project delivery in line with all relevant health, safety, environmental, and compliance requirements and standards.  
• Ensure a comprehensive hand-over to operational teams after project completion, providing detailed operating and maintenance instructions and required training if relevant.  
• Implement the delivery of post-project capital reviews, identifying opportunities to develop future project delivery performance and taking corrective actions on areas of improvement.  
• Manage and report on relevant performance metrics (e.g., Capital Spend; Milestone Adherence; Additional Spend Requests) taking appropriate actions when necessary.  
• Manage the process framework and develop detailed process documentation with the appropriate governance structure according to the WGW.  
• Support and evaluate engineering standards and execute day-to-day engineering in bottling facilities to ensure continuous operations and minimise downtime.  
• Support ops in ensuring buildings and energy / utility infrastructure are kept in good working order to maximise efficiencies, minimise wastage and eliminate risk of outages/ blockages. 

Contact Us:

Managing this recruitment process are Michael Dickson, Director at FWB Park Brown and Ewan MacLeod, Talent Attraction and Research Consultant at FWB Park Brown. 

To request a copy of the detailed candidate brochure please apply here or speak with our appointed recruitment partner FWB Park Brown on 01315397087, or to arrange a confidential conversation with either of them please contact cv@fwbparkbrown.com or call the office on 01315397087.