Top 10 Highest Paying Jobs in FMCG as an Engineer

Key learnings – 

• Working as an Engineering/Technical Director pays the highest amount in FMCG for professionals from an engineering background.
• FMCG companies have a strong focus on soft skills alongside digital readiness.
•  Demonstrating a proactive approach to career development without moving between roles too regularly can be appealing to employers today.

Engineers are the driving force behind the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, where they finetune the implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of machinery, processes, and methodologies across product development.

FMCG can be a fantastic industry to build a career in. 79% of professionals in Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) today are positive about the future of their sector, and 80% of professionals say their job is still secure despite the UK’s current economic turbulence.

If you’re looking to start, or maybe shift your career in FMCG as an engineer, this article is full of valuable insights surrounding top salaries, competitive skills, and key advice for engineering professionals in FMCG.

Skills for success in FMCG

As AI continues to transform the role of the fourth industrial revolution in FMCG, skills requirements are shifting to meet the requirements of a new work environment.

According to a recent survey, the top 5 most in-demand skills in FMCG are:

1. Teamwork
2. Communication
3. Use of technology
4. Leadership 
5. Organisation

In my experience, the fast-paced nature of FMCG can often involve engineers working on many projects at once. This can differ from working in other industries, such as pharma, where dedicated professionals work on single projects through to completion. 

A key skill that many exceptional professionals demonstrate is the ability to be flexible and agile in the workplace. Being able to stop and start projects throughout the day while staying calm, collected, and focused can be invaluable in FMCG.

Top 10 highest-paid jobs in FMCG for engineers

10 -  Maintenance Engineer 

Average salary: £37,000

Maintenance engineers work in a wider maintenance team to monitor and repair mechanical and electrical equipment. Maintenance engineers often have a wide skill set and experience in assembly, repairs, and component fitting for a range of systems.

9 - Packaging Engineer 

Average salary: £40,000

Packaging engineers play an important role in product production, where they design efficient packages to minimise the cost of materials, improve biodegradability, and increase the efficiency of loading into shipping cartons. 

8 -  Engineering/Technical Manager

Average salary: £45,100

Engineering/Technical managers act as a project leader in a wider team of supervisors and engineers where they effectively diagnose breakdowns, evaluate the most efficient course of action, and lead root cause investigations to remove chances of the breakdown re-occurring.

7 -  Systems Engineer 

Average salary: £47,800

Systems engineers research, integrate and maintain software, hardware and equipment to support efficient product development. In FMCG, systems engineers play an important role in the product lifecycle, where they monitor network systems to maintain safety and structural integrity and identify issues in production processes before recommending improvement strategies.

6 -  Process Engineer 

Average salary:  £48,000

Process engineers design, implement, evaluate, and improve industrial processes and machinery across FMCG manufacturing to help transform raw materials into products. 

5. EHS Manager 

Average salary: £49,500

An Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) manager ensures that FMCG organisations comply with environmental, health, and safety industry regulations to protect employees, the environment, and end-users.

4. Quality Manager 

Average salary: £50,400

Quality managers develop quality control processes based on customer needs and requirements. Quality managers also create and review specifications for products and processes and set requirements for supplier products, and monitor compliance.

3. Project Manager 

Average salary: £50,400

Project managers in FMCG co-ordinate and manage client projects from inception through to completion. Project managers ensure that projects are accomplished on budget and within scope by assigning responsibilities, monitoring and summarising progress, and reporting back to upper management and the client.

2. Electrical Engineer 

Average salary:  £50,500

Electrical engineers prepare project specifications, undertake research, create test procedures, and evaluate data to drive informed decisions across product development. 

1. Engineering/Technical Director 

Average salary: £83,900

Engineering/Technical directors hold the overall responsibility for an FMCG organisation’s engineering and product strategies. Engineering/Technical directors manage key stakeholders within and outside the business, internal processes, and strategies to ensure that the business meets its goals and objectives.

Creating your career path in FMCG

While a degree isn’t essential to career success in FMCG, having the right training courses, experience and motivation to succeed is crucial.

If you’re looking to start out in FMCG, apprenticeships can be a valuable route to strengthening your career, and can help you access the right training and development courses you need to develop your career over time.

Taking the time to optimise your LinkedIn profile can help you build a strong professional network of contacts to keep you connected with the latest developments in the industry, as well as new opportunities. Highlighting specific training qualifications that you’ve attained on your LinkedIn profile and CV can also help recruiters identify your suitability for roles faster. 

Generally, I would say that staying with an industry-recognised employer for a few years rather than a short amount of time can help indicate your ability to commit to an organisation while offering the benefit of access to development pathways and the potential to move up into alternative roles.