Industrial Process Engineering Team Lead - Cheadle

Thales; Cheadle; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defense technology provider in Cheadle is looking for an Industrial Process Engineering Team Lead. The role requires significant senior-level experience in manufacturing and leading multifaceted teams. You will drive innovation, streamline workflows, and ensure processes meet high standards. This position offers a competitive package, a compressed 4-day work week, and various flexible working arrangements to support your well-being. Join us in shaping the future of defense technology today.

Benefits

Pension matching up to 7%

Life Assurance

Private Medical Insurance

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Significant senior-level experience in manufacturing, ideally within engineering.
• Proven leadership of complex, multi-disciplinary teams.
• Established communication skills, able to influence and align diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Drive best-practice IPE strategy, processes, and innovation to improve performance.
• Ensure team capability meets current and future project needs.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team, overseeing recruitment, training, and appraisals.

Skills

Leadership of multi-disciplinary teams

Advanced manufacturing knowledge

Data-driven problem solving

Effective communication

Education

Degree in engineering or manufacturing discipline

Tools

MRP

ERP

MES

Job description

Location: Cheadle, United Kingdom Thales people provide armed forces customers with operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defence mission systems solutions at land, sea, and air. Our platforms extend across the battlespace including Above and Sonar, Electronic Combat, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems. Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Industrial Process Engineering Team Lead

Location: Cheadle, full-time (4 days/ week) onsite

Step into a leadership role where innovation meets impact - apply now to lead Industrial Process Engineering at Thales!

What the role has to offer

• Take charge of a high‑performing team, driving innovation and shaping smarter manufacturing processes that deliver excellence across the product lifecycle
• Join a global organisation that invests in your development with world‑class training, mentoring, and clear progression opportunities
• Benefit from a competitive package, compressed 4-day week, and flexible working designed to support your wellbeing and work‑life balance

Our Opportunity

Reporting to the Head of Industrial Process Engineering, you’ll lead a high‑performing team within our Autonomous Production & Repair Unit (APRU). Balancing leadership with hands‑on delivery, you’ll drive industrialisation and sustainment across new and legacy products, embedding Design for Manufacturing principles and smarter ways of working. Your role is pivotal - guiding engineers, eliminating waste, and ensuring processes and products perform to the highest standards.

Building a Future, we can all trust.

Industrial Process Engineering (IPE) is all about shaping how products come to life - from the design of tooling and processes to the skills and technology that keep them running smoothly throughout their lifecycle. It’s where efficiency meets innovation, ensuring every product, component, and repair is delivered to the highest standards.

What we offer you

• Pension – match like‑for‑like up to 7% of annual base salary
• Life Assurance – 2 x base salary minimum (8 x salary if part of the pension scheme)
• Income Protection – 50% of salary less state benefits for 5 years
• Annual Leave – 201 hours, bank holidays, plus 1 company day
• Private Medical Insurance - Couples cover
• 4 day working week – 9.25 hours per day
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
• 24 hours paid leave for volunteering activities
• Access to flexible benefits and discounts – dental insurance, buying & selling annual leave, cycle to work, and many more

Key Responsibilities and Tasks

• Drive best‑practice IPE strategy, processes, and innovation to improve performance, reduce costs, and streamline workflows
• Ensure team capability meets current and future project needs while managing workloads, KPIs, and compliance standards
• Lead, coach, and develop a high‑performing team, overseeing recruitment, training, appraisals, and daily productivity
• Own industrial process maturity assessments, guide design for manufacture, and optimise tooling, documentation, and workflows
• Resolve production issues using data‑driven problem‑solving and root cause analysis, embedding lessons learned
• Build strong stakeholder relationships and foster effective cross‑department collaboration to support delivery

About You

At Thales, we are committed to equal opportunities and welcome all talented individuals to consider joining our team. So even if you don't match every statement below but feel you have some of the experience, knowledge or skills needed for this role, we encourage you to apply. It will take all of us working together to deliver solutions to the world’s most critical challenges.

Essential

• Degree in engineering or manufacturing discipline
• Significant senior‑level experience in manufacturing, ideally within engineering
• Proven leadership of complex, multi‑disciplinary teams
• Deep knowledge of advanced manufacturing environments and supply chain operations
• Skilled in MRP, ERP, MES, and related industrial systems
• Track record of driving innovation in industrial processes
• Demonstrated experience of developing and supporting team growth and capability
• Proven ability to engage effectively across all organisational levels with integrity and ambition
• Established communication skills, able to influence and align diverse stakeholders
• Adept at building productive stakeholder relationships while aligning and prioritising multiple demands

Desirable

• Experience across the full product lifecycle (bid, design, development, production, delivery, service)
• Background in world‑class industrial operations
• Familiarity with military manufacturing across varying production volumes

Join Thales in Cheadle as Industrial Process Engineering Team Lead - apply today and help build a future we can all trust!

Security Clearance Statement UKEO (UK Eyes Only)

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires you to be a UK National and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. If approved by the MOD, a dual national from a non-ITAR country may be considered.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier‑free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro‑diverse applicants or those with a disability or long‑term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

Great journeys start here, apply now!