Manufacturing Engineer

The Manufacturing Engineer is responsible for improving how Galebreaker manufactures, stores and moves products by developing robust processes, machinery capability and operational standards that support safety, quality, productivity and growth.

The role acts as the operational link between Production, Planning, Procurement, Warehouse and CI, ensuring manufacturing methods, ERP data, equipment decisions and improvement activity are practical, repeatable and aligned with current and future business needs.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Manufacturing Excellence

• Own and develop manufacturing processes across all production areas.

• Develop and maintain manufacturing standards, SOPs and work instructions that support safe, consistent and efficient production.
• Capture practical operator knowledge and convert it into clear methods, standards and training support to improve consistency and reduce reliance on informal ways of working.

• Support production teams with technical problem solving.

• Act as the business owner and subject matter expert for production machinery, ensuring equipment capability, condition and process performance support current operational needs.
• Work with Production and maintenance support to identify machinery reliability, capability and condition issues that affect output, quality or safety.
• Oversee and coordinate equipment maintenance, servicing schedules, LOLER inspections and statutory checks, ensuring clear ownership, timely completion, accurate records and appropriate follow-up on any actions raised.
• Improve labour productivity, machine utilisation and overall manufacturing performance.
• Define the machinery and process capability required to support future growth, productivity improvement and quality performance.
• Improve manufacturing processes in a high-mix, configurable product environment, ensuring variation is controlled without creating unnecessary complexity.

Process Quality & Continuous Improvement

• Develop robust manufacturing processes that improve process capability, operational consistency and customer quality performance.

• Conduct root cause investigations and corrective actions.
• Implement mistake-proofing and error reduction initiatives.

• Build quality into manufacturing processes through standard work, error-proofing, process controls and clear inspection or verification points.
• Use operational performance data to identify and deliver improvements in process capability, consistency, productivity and quality.
• Work closely with the CI Engineer to ensure manufacturing process, machinery and factory improvement activity aligns with product cost-out and value engineering priorities.

• Support internal quality improvement projects.

Factory & Warehouse Improvements

• Lead workflow improvement projects across production and warehouse operations.

• Improve factory and warehouse layouts, material flow and bottleneck management across production and warehouse operations.
• Improve warehouse efficiency, storage optimisation and material handling processes.

• Improve scanning, traceability and ERP-driven operational processes.

• Support 5S, workplace organisation and visual management improvements that improve safety, efficiency, quality and operational discipline.
• Lead operational automation and machinery improvement projects where they improve growth capacity, productivity, quality or process control.

New Product Introduction (NPI)

• Lead operational introduction of new products into manufacturing.

• Provide design-for-manufacture input during product development, ensuring new products are practical, repeatable and efficient to manufacture.
• Assess manufacturing readiness and ensure new products transition safely, efficiently and consistently into full production.
• Define and manage manufacturing launch readiness requirements, including BOMs, routings, tooling, equipment, work instructions, training, quality checks and production trial outputs.
• Create and maintain new product BOMs, routings, manufacturing methods and standards.
• Validate labour, routing, equipment and process assumptions for new products to support accurate costing, planning and capacity decisions.
• Plan and execute production trials, capture learning and ensure actions are closed before handover to full production.

Factory of the Future

• Develop and maintain a Factory of the Future roadmap.

• Identify, evaluate and develop automation, machinery, equipment, systems and future-state manufacturing or warehouse solutions.
• Prioritise and advise on capital investment requirements, preparing evidence-led recommendations and business cases based on growth capacity, productivity improvement, quality performance, risk reduction and return on investment.
• Maintain a clear view of current machinery capability, constraints, risks and future investment priorities to support the Factory of the Future roadmap.

• Support ERP optimisation and future system capability development

QUALIFICATIONS AND KEY SKILLS

• Relevant engineering, manufacturing or operations-related qualification, supported by practical manufacturing experience.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, machinery capability, SOPs, work instructions and operational standards.
• Experience using ERP systems and maintaining accurate manufacturing data, including BOMs, routings and process information.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and data-led decision-making skills.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to collaborate across Production, Planning, Procurement, Warehouse and CI.
• Practical Lean Manufacturing or Continuous Improvement experience, with a clear improvement mindset and results focus.
• Experience improving warehouse, logistics, material flow or factory layout processes.
• Experience introducing new products into manufacture, including production readiness, routings, trials or handover to production.
• Awareness of automation, machinery improvement or Industry 4.0 opportunities.
• Strong ownership, accountability, attention to detail and ability to drive change.

Please email Chris Sheppard on cshepphard@galebreaker.com for more information and to apply.