The Role
The Principal Mechanic is responsible for leading and controlling all mechanical and hydraulic activities within the workshop, yard, and site environments, ensuring work is planned, executed, and completed to a consistently high standard.
The role provides senior technical and supervisory leadership across mechanical scopes, managing the Mechanical Supervisors and ensuring the wider mechanical team operates in a disciplined, efficient, and accountable manner. The role is expected to bring structure, rigour, and technical oversight to the delivery of new builds, refurbishments, maintenance scopes, mobilisations, and equipment preparation activities, ensuring the mechanical function runs in a controlled and effective way.
A strong mechanical and hydraulic background is essential, and previous FlexLay equipment experience would be highly beneficial.
Responsibilities
* Lead and oversee all mechanical and hydraulic work scopes across workshop, yard, and onshore site activities.
* Ensure mechanical work is executed safely, efficiently, and in line with defined plans, drawings, procedures, and standards.
* Provide senior oversight of equipment build, refurbishment, repair, maintenance, assembly, and pre-mobilisation preparation.
* Ensure all mechanical and hydraulic tasks are completed to the required quality and readiness standard.
* Manage the Mechanical Supervisors and provide clear direction, expectations, and accountability for delivery.
* Ensure the mechanical team is organised, disciplined, and operating effectively across all active scopes.
* Set the tone for standards, behaviour, pace, and attention to detail within the mechanical function.
* Ensure work is properly allocated, monitored, and followed through to completion.
* Develop a strong team culture focused on ownership, consistency, and getting the basics right every time.
* Support and lead the development of apprentices, mechanical technicians and supervisors and complete succession planning activities.
* Support and oversee mechanical activities in the workshop, yard, and onshore site environments.
* Ensure site-based mechanical work, installation support, and surveys are properly planned and executed.
* Provide senior support on more complex scopes, particularly where experience and judgement are required to keep work moving correctly.
* Provide senior technical guidance on mechanical and hydraulic systems, including fault finding, build methods, inspection, testing support, and reinstatement scopes.
* Ensure mechanical and hydraulic work is completed in line with best practice, operational requirements, and company standards.
* Support resolution of mechanical faults, non-conformances, and quality issues, ensuring lessons are fed back into future scopes.
* Provide practical operational input to engineering, maintenance, and equipment teams where required.
* Support off site and on-site black builds and provide coaching to supervisors to allow them to become self-sufficient in mechanical black build activities on complex machines.
* Support offshore operations with mechanical input or personnel when required, without undermining core onshore delivery priorities.
Requirements
* Strong mechanical and hydraulic background, ideally developed within offshore equipment, heavy equipment, or engineering service environments.
* Proven experience leading mechanical teams and supervising delivery of complex work scopes.
* Strong understanding of equipment build, refurbishment, repair, maintenance, and assembly activities.
* Experience fault finding and resolving mechanical and hydraulic issues in workshop and operational environments.
* Good ability to read and interpret mechanical assembly and hydraulic drawings.
* Strong planning and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a structured way.
* Previous FlexLay equipment experience would be advantageous, though not essential.
* Good working knowledge of safe systems of work, lifting and handling, and workshop execution controls.
Salary- £48-58k
Permanent & Full-time
Salary description
£48000.00 - £58000.00 per year