Garage Manager

Garage Manager – Müller Milk & Ingredients Distribution | Manchester

Lead the Team Behind the Fleet

We’re looking for a proactive and experienced Garage Manager to join our Transport Department based at our Manchester Depot. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone with strong technical knowledge and leadership skills to take charge of our Vehicle Maintenance Unit (VMU), ensuring our fleet is safe, compliant, and operating at peak performance.

Location: Manchester - M17 1TU Contract: Full Time / Permanent Salary: Competitive (monthly paid) Hours: 40 hours per week Apply via: Müller Careers

What You’ll Be Doing

As Garage Manager, you will:

Lead the day-to-day operation of the Vehicle Maintenance Unit, ensuring all maintenance activities are completed safely, efficiently, and to the highest standards. Manage workshop resources, labour allocation, and repair schedules to maximise fleet availability and minimise downtime. Ensure all vehicles, trailers, and workshop activities remain fully compliant with DVSA, Operator Licence, health and safety, and company standards. Drive a proactive preventative maintenance culture, identifying opportunities to improve reliability and reduce operating costs. Monitor workshop performance, productivity, maintenance spend, and key fleet engineering KPIs. Lead, coach, and develop engineering and workshop teams, creating a culture of accountability, engagement, and continuous improvement. Investigate vehicle failures, defects, incidents, and engineering-related root causes, implementing corrective actions where required. Build effective working relationships with internal stakeholders, customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and third-party service providers Maintain high standards of housekeeping, safety, quality, and audit readiness across all workshop activities. Support fleet replacement, vehicle specification, and engineering improvement initiatives to enhance operational performance.

What We’re Looking For

Previous management experience within a fleet maintenance, transport engineering, commercial vehicle, or workshop environment. Technical knowledge of HGVs, trailers, vehicle maintenance systems, defect management, and engineering best practices. An understanding of fleet compliance, preventative maintenance planning, vehicle legislation, and operational risk management. Experience managing workshop performance, budgets, resource planning, and productivity. Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. Good IT skills, including Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. Knowledge of transport and logistics operations and the critical role engineering plays in delivering customer service and operational efficiency.