Lead Air Conditioning Engineer - Technical Support & Training

Location: Huddersfield, HD2 1UA, with UK-wide travel and some overnight stays

Salary: Up to £60,000 per year, depending on experience, plus up to £10,000 annual bonus

Vehicle: Estate car or van

Hours: Full-time, permanent, with some flexibility around working pattern.

Put your experience to work-and help others develop theirs

Are you an experienced air conditioning engineer who enjoys solving problems and passing on your knowledge?

At Buy It Direct, we're looking for a lead engineer to help develop our installation team, resolve complex technical issues and improve the products we sell. You'll stay hands-on with installations and repairs, while having a real say in how we train our engineers and develop our own-brand range.

Strong air conditioning experience is essential. Heat pump experience would be welcome, but we can provide training if this is an area you'd like to develop.

About Buy It Direct

Founded in Huddersfield in 1999, Buy It Direct is one of the UK's largest online retailers, employing nearly 1,000 people in the UK and overseas. Our brands include Appliances Direct, Laptops Direct, Furniture123, Better Bathrooms and Aircon Direct.

Air conditioning and heat pumps are a growing part of our business. We sell leading manufacturers' equipment alongside our own-brand products, which we design and develop in-house. Your practical experience will help us make those products easier to install, maintain and use.

About the role

Your main focus will be developing our engineers, tackling technical challenges and helping us deliver consistently high-quality installations.

Some days you'll be on an installation, showing a junior colleague how to get the job right. On others, you'll be at our Huddersfield head office, helping an installer diagnose a fault remotely or working with our buyers and quality team to investigate a product issue.

You'll undertake local installations and travel to more complex jobs across the UK, with some overnight stays required.

Training and installation standards

• Train and mentor junior installers, working alongside them on jobs and supporting them as they develop their skills and confidence.

• Help shape our training approach and set clear standards for installation quality.

• Provide practical technical guidance to our driver-installer teams while they are on site.

Installation and technical support

• Install, commission, diagnose and repair air conditioning systems from leading manufacturers and our own-brand range.

• Work on heat pumps, including systems for home heating and hot tubs, with training provided where needed.

• Act as the senior technical contact for escalated customer issues, helping colleagues diagnose faults and find effective solutions.

• Attend complex installations and service visits where your experience is needed.

Product quality and improvement

• Work with our buyers and quality team to investigate faults and improve our own-brand products.

• Feed practical lessons from installations and repairs into product development and training.

• Inspect, test and repair returned products for resale, or recover usable parts where appropriate.

• Maintain air conditioning equipment at our own UK sites.

What we're looking for

You'll be an experienced, practical engineer who takes pride in doing a job properly and enjoys helping others do the same.

Essential:

• Strong experience installing, commissioning, diagnosing and repairing air conditioning systems.

• F-Gas Category 1 certification.

• Experience working with equipment from different manufacturers.

• Electrical competence relevant to HVAC installations.

• Experience supporting or mentoring less experienced engineers, with the patience to explain things clearly.

• Confident fault-finding skills and the ability to guide someone through a technical problem over the phone.

• A reliable, self-motivated approach and a professional manner in customers' homes.

• Willingness to travel across the UK and stay overnight when required.

• A full UK driving licence.

Useful, but not essential:

• Heat pump installation or repair experience and relevant qualifications.

• 18th Edition qualification.

• Unvented hot water (G3) qualification and knowledge of water regulations.

• An interest in product testing, quality investigations and improvement.

What's in it for you?

• Up to £60,000 basic salary, depending on experience.

• Up to £10,000 annual bonus, including an element rewarding attendance and service.

• Estate car or van.

• Flexibility: we will consider a four-day working week and extended holidays outside our peak season, with arrangements agreed individually.

• Ongoing training e.g. Heat Pumps

• A permanent role with a growing business investing in air conditioning and heat pumps.

• The opportunity to shape training and help develop a skilled installation team.

• Direct input into the development and improvement of our own-brand products.

• Training to develop your heat pump knowledge and skills.

• Healthcare cash plan.

• Staff discounts.

• Holiday purchase scheme.

• Your birthday off after one year's service.

• Free parking at our Huddersfield head office.

If you enjoy hands-on engineering, sharing your knowledge and making things work better, we'd like to hear from you. Apply below.