Lead Project Engineer

Lead Project Engineer

Location: Runcorn

Contract: Full-Time, Permanent

Closing date : 20 January 2026

Join our Global Engineering Team

Diageo's Global Engineering team is a trusted partner that safely delivers best in class engineering solutions, bringing Diageo products to the world. We succeed together through our versatile people, collaboration, agility, and creativity.

Global Engineering works to define, build and embed standard methodology for all capital engineering projects. We directly implement projects in several global markets. And in others we provide specialist support and guidance regarding packaging solutions, sustainability, master planning, digital and automation, process and engineering safety and best practice project execution. The Global Engineering Team is also responsible for Capex planning globally and for ongoing Capex cash reporting and forecasting.

About the Role

Reporting to the Technical Manager, the Lead Project Engineer is responsible for driving delivery of a diverse CapEx project portfolio while leading and developing a multi-disciplinary engineering team. The role provides day-to-day leadership, resource planning and recruitment support, ensuring projects progress safely, on time and within budget. It combines proactive project and programme management-including governance, risk control, financial oversight and stakeholder engagement-with application of engineering expertise to develop compliant, cost-effective solutions. The Lead Project Engineer manages vendor and contractor relationships, collaborates closely with internal functions, champions best-practice safety performance.

Key responsibilities include :

• Seek broader context relating CapEx portfolio and ensure this is considered in CapEx delivery plans (e.g. business performance & context, external market conditions, supplier performance & commerical position, risks to project delivery)
• Support Engineering leadership team with input to help development of global engineering strategy, and lead deployment of elements of the strategy across their own teams and others.
• Manage risk across project portfolio, ensuring risks are understood, documented and have robust mitigation plans.
• Responsibility for consolidating project cash forecasts and providing analysis & decision making to ensure spend aligns with agreed business targets.
• Apply Engineering technical expertise in relevant discipline to develop solutions suitable for industrial applications.
• Provide engineering input to support development of project business cases to support annual CapEx planning processes. This will include conceptual design and sense checking scope, budget & timelines based on high level deliverables.
• Act as main contact for CapEx portolio and provide input to engineering issues across operational areas. This includes managing comms & relationships at Director level and across senior leadership.

About you

• Relevant Degree (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Process, Chemical) or HND/HNC with Experience (CEng desirable)
• Project Management (APM PMQ or equivalent, ChPP desirable)
• Experience of leading engineering projects
• Experience of leading teams

Working with Us

Flexibility is key to success in our business and many of our staff work flexibly in many different ways, including part-time, compressed hours, flexible location. Please talk to us about what flexibility means to you and don't let anything stop you from applying.

Join us and you can also expect a highly competitive and flexible rewards and benefits package including:

• Contemporary work life balance policies and wellbeing activities
• Private medical insurance
• Product allowance
• Access to discounts at 1000's of retailers
• Contributory pension
• Sharesave/sharepurchase/sharematch options
• Cycle to work scheme
• Annual bonus (dependent on performance)
• 6 months paid parental leave to all employees

Celebrating our inclusive and diverse culture is core to Diageo's purpose of "celebrating life every day everywhere". This purpose is inclusive in nature as it values everybody irrespective of background, disability, religion, gender identity, sexuality or ethnicity.

We know that for our business to thrive and for Diageo to realize its ambition, we depend on having diverse talent with a range of backgrounds, skills and capabilities in each of the 180 countries in which we operate and to reflect our broad consumer base. We view diversity as one of the key enablers that helps our business to grow and our values, purpose and standards set the conditions for us to respect the outstanding contribution each person brings.

Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please ensure that you capture this information when you submit your application.

Client-provided location(s): Runcorn, United Kingdom

Job ID: Diageo-JR1121731

Employment Type: FULL_TIME

Posted: 2026-01-10T23:50:20