Head of Manufacturing / NPI Manager

Mode Labs Ltd; Oxford; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Mode Labs Ltd is seeking a senior, hands-on engineering leader to own the productisation and industrialisation of its first commercial sensor platform for remote environmental monitoring. You will translate MVP into a robust, compliant, manufacturable product, coordinating across engineering, design, quality, operations and supply chain.

The role begins as a senior individual-contributor and technical lead, evolving into building and leading a manufacturing team to deliver the vision, with a

Responsibilities

• Own the industrialisation roadmap, development stages, release gates and production-readiness criteria.
• Lead DFM, DFA, design-for-test, service and reliability activities across optical, mechanical, electronic, fluidic and sensing-chemistry interfaces.
• Establish a controlled product definition covering bills of materials, drawings, specifications, software dependencies and manufacturing data.
• Lead pilot and pre-production builds, converting results into prioritised design and process improvements.
• Determine the applicable regulatory and certification routes for the product's intended markets and use.
• Own the verification and validation strategy, including requirements traceability, test methods, acceptance criteria and treatment of failures.
• Coordinate pre-compliance and formal testing with specialist advisers and accredited laboratories.
• Build the evidence required for applicable UKCA or CE conformity, technical files, declarations and product labelling.
• Define appropriate environmental and reliability testing for remote deployment, including ingress, temperature, humidity, corrosion, shock, vibration and accelerated life testing.
• Develop and release repeatable assembly, inspection, calibration and end-of-line test processes.
• Specify the tooling, fixtures, reference standards and test infrastructure required for production.
• Establish proportionate process controls, PFMEAs, control plans, traceability, change control and non-conformance processes within the QMS.
• Define production metrics covering yield, quality, cycle time, capacity and unit cost.
• Select and develop key suppliers and manufacturing partners, managing qualification, transfer and supply-chain risks.
• Ensure service, repair, calibration and field-return requirements are reflected in the product and manufacturing design.
• Mentor colleagues and help establish the manufacturing practices and capabilities needed as the company grows.
• Built a detailed understanding of the MVP, intended use, architecture, current prototype build process and principal technical risks, transferring knowledge from the existing engineering team.
• Completed a productisation gap assessment covering design maturity, reliability, compliance, manufacturing, supply chain and serviceability.
• Agreed an integrated industrialisation roadmap with clear stages, owners, budget, schedule and readiness criteria.
• Defined the verification, compliance and certification strategy, including external test requirements.
• Led or supported a representative build and test cycle, turning the findings into a prioritised action plan.
• Identified the critical suppliers, long-lead, single-source and make-versus-buy decisions.
• Scoped and recruited an appropriately scaled manufacturing team, including a roadmap for future expansion.
• Delivered an agreed production baseline achieving the required performance, reliability, compliance, cost and manufacturability targets.
• Completed the planned engineering, design and production validation stages, with remaining risks formally understood and owned.
• Achieved the applicable conformity, certification and market-access milestones.
• Released repeatable assembly, calibration and test processes with suitable tooling, controls and traceability.
• Demonstrated agreed production performance through pilot or pre-production builds.
• Qualified the critical supply chain and established a scalable NPI and manufacturing operating system.

Job description

Build the manufacturing capability behind the next generation of opto-chemical sensors. Mode is developing an autonomous opto-chemical sensing platform for remote environmental monitoring. We are looking for a senior, hands-on engineering leader to own the productisation and industrialisation of our first commercial sensor platform.

THE ROLE

You will lead the translation of our proven engineering MVP into a robust, compliant, serviceable and manufacturable product. You will define and manage the route from existing prototype through engineering, design and production validation to controlled release. Working across engineering, quality, operations and supply chain, you will balance performance, reliability, compliance, cost and manufacturability. This role begins as a senior individual-contributor and technical-lead role, combining strategic ownership with hands-on involvement in builds, testing and problem-solving. You will then build and lead a wider manufacturing team to deliver your vision.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Productisation and NPI

Own the industrialisation roadmap, development stages, release gates and production-readiness criteria.

Lead DFM, DFA, design-for-test, service and reliability activities across optical, mechanical, electronic, fluidic and sensing-chemistry interfaces.

Establish a controlled product definition covering bills of materials, drawings, specifications, software dependencies and manufacturing data.

Lead pilot and pre-production builds, converting results into prioritised design and process improvements.

Verification, Compliance and Market Access

Determine the applicable regulatory and certification routes for the product's intended markets and use.

Own the verification and validation strategy, including requirements traceability, test methods, acceptance criteria and treatment of failures.

Coordinate pre-compliance and formal testing with specialist advisers and accredited laboratories.

Build the evidence required for applicable UKCA or CE conformity, technical files, declarations and product labelling.

Define appropriate environmental and reliability testing for remote deployment, including ingress, temperature, humidity, corrosion, shock, vibration and accelerated life testing.

Manufacturing, Quality and Scale-up

Develop and release repeatable assembly, inspection, calibration and end-of-line test processes.

Specify the tooling, fixtures, reference standards and test infrastructure required for production.

Establish proportionate process controls, PFMEAs, control plans, traceability, change control and non-conformance processes within the QMS.

Define production metrics covering yield, quality, cycle time, capacity and unit cost.

Select and develop key suppliers and manufacturing partners, managing qualification, transfer and supply-chain risks.

Ensure service, repair, calibration and field-return requirements are reflected in the product and manufacturing design.

Mentor colleagues and help establish the manufacturing practices and capabilities needed as the company grows.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Within your first 100 days, you will have

Built a detailed understanding of the MVP, intended use, architecture, current prototype build process and principal technical risks, transferring knowledge from the existing engineering team.

Completed a productisation gap assessment covering design maturity, reliability, compliance, manufacturing, supply chain and serviceability.

Agreed an integrated industrialisation roadmap with clear stages, owners, budget, schedule and readiness criteria.

Defined the verification, compliance and certification strategy, including external test requirements.

Led or supported a representative build and test cycle, turning the findings into a prioritised action plan.

Identified the critical suppliers, long-lead, single-source and make-versus-buy decisions.

By the end of your first year, you will have

Scoped and recruited an appropriately scaled manufacturing team, including a roadmap for future expansion.

Delivered an agreed production baseline achieving the required performance, reliability, compliance, cost and manufacturability targets.

Completed the planned engineering, design and production validation stages, with remaining risks formally understood and owned.

Achieved the applicable conformity, certification and market-access milestones.

Released repeatable assembly, calibration and test processes with suitable tooling, controls and traceability.

Demonstrated agreed production performance through pilot or pre-production builds.

Qualified the critical supply chain and established a scalable NPI and manufacturing operating system.

ABOUT YOU

You are a hands-on product industrialisation leader who brings structure to ambiguity. You have taken complex hardware beyond prototype and understand the trade-offs required to make it reliable, compliant, manufacturable and supportable. You have the ability to balance evolving design with the need to deliver MVP units to