Industrial Engineer and Headcount Planning Lead

McLaren Racing; Old Woking; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days' holiday

Enhanced pension scheme

Private medical insurance

Discretionary annual bonus

Life assurance

Sabbatical opportunity

Job summary

McLaren Racing, proudly based in the UK, seeks an Industrial Engineer and Headcount Planning Lead to drive world‑class operational strategies within a high‑value, low‑volume manufacturing environment. You will shape processes to boost productivity, quality and efficiency across lines at the MPC.

The role combines industrial engineering with headcount planning, requiring Lean, SAP PP/ME knowledge, and strong cross‑functional leadership to deliver measurable improvements.

Qualifications

• Degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality Management or equivalent.
• Experience in manufacturing or production launch environments.

Responsibilities

• Monitor hours per car across the manufacturing processes and drive improvement initiatives.
• Report headcount allocation across all manufacturing lines and identify efficiency opportunities.
• Investigate and introduce technology to support production modelling and scenario planning.
• Lead cross-functional continuous improvement initiatives to achieve World Class manufacturing.
• Manage projects through planning, execution and delivery, with budgets and stakeholder alignment.

Skills

Manufacturing experience

Lean manufacturing

SAP PP/ME

Headcount planning

Cross-functional leadership

Data analysis

Project management

Education

Degree in Engineering

Tools

SAP PP/ME

Job description

As part of the Manufacturing Engineering and Launch team reporting to the Production Steering Manager, we are seeking a dynamic and results-driven Industrial Engineer and Headcount Planning Lead to oversee the implementation of world-class operational strategies within our automotive manufacturing division. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in continuous improvement, lean manufacturing, and driving operational efficiency across a large-scale production environment. As the Industrial Engineer and Headcount Planning Lead, you will play a critical role in shaping and executing strategies that optimize processes, enhance productivity, and improve quality, ensuring that our manufacturing operations with the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) remain at the forefront of the industry.

What You'll Do

• Monitoring hours per car across the manufacturing processes, creating insights and driving improvement initiatives
• Reporting headcount allocation across all manufacturing lines, liaising with key stakeholders to identify efficiency opportunities
• Investigate and Introduce technology to support production modelling and scenario planning.
• Engage with key stakeholders across the business to identify and drive continuous improvement initiatives to achieve World Class manufacturing
• Lead projects through effective planning, execution and delivery, managing budgets and stakeholders to ensure all milestones are met
• Degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality Management or suitable industry experience.
• Minimum of 5yrs in manufacturing / production launch environment
• Experienced with low volume high-cost product manufacturing.
• Knowledge of SAP PP/ ME would be a distinct advantage
• Leading and managing cross-functional team in manufacturing environment providing guidance and support for project execution.
• Strong technical knowledge, to ensure correct decisions are made at the right time aligning with McLarens goals.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive continuous improvement initiatives and resolve manufacturing & product issues.
• Monitoring production data, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing corrective actions.
• Experienced with programme / business governance and able to lead through them whilst developing others understand on what is required.
• Experienced with challenging and high-pressure environments.

Personal Attributes

• Highly motivated, resilient, assertive and process / data driven.
• Dynamic, with the ability to respond to challenging situations in an innovative manner.
• Clear Communication Skills: Effective communication is essential. As a Production Steering Manager, you'll interact across the business at all levels. Clear communication both written and oral is vital for explaining instructions, presenting solutions, and avoiding project failure.
• Team Player, quickly develop good working relationships / Teamwork: You succeed with your team. Encourage, empower, and improve team members.
• Trustworthy, building trust within the organisation is crucial for this role. Trust fosters positive dynamics and contributes to successful outcomes despite challenging situations faced.
• Ability to think logically whilst ensuring day to day operation objectives are met.
• Passion for delivery, coaching and motivating people.

No restraints. No limitations. We don't simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars.

It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks. McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey.

What We'll Do for You

We offer a wide - ranging benefits package, which includes:

• Structured career development framework
• 25 days' holiday, plus bank holiday. Annual buy & sell up to five days
• Enhanced company pension scheme
• Discretionary annual bonus award
• Private medical insurance and health cash plan
• Life assurance benefit
• Ability to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years' service
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
• Generous parental leave policies
• A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice