Interim Engineering Manager

KHR - Recruitment Specialists; Marden; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

KHR - Recruitment Specialists is seeking an Interim/Contract Engineering Manager to lead a growing engineering and manufacturing business in Kent. The role covers mechanical, electronics, software and physics/systems with hands-on leadership and a strong focus on delivery.

You will drive recruitment, performance management and development, align engineering priorities with manufacturing, and push continuous improvement while ensuring technical, quality, cost and delivery targets are met.

Qualifications

• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Strong people management and development skills.
• Experience working closely with manufacturing and production.
• Hands-on, technically engaged leadership style.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop multidisciplinary teams across different areas of engineering.
• Manage recruitment, appraisals, performance, coaching and ongoing development of engineers.
• Manage multidisciplinary engineering projects, ensuring technical, quality, cost and delivery requirements are met.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership, problem-solving and engineering decision-making.
• Support engineering strategy, innovation, resource planning and continuous improvement.
• Oversee engineering resources and priorities, ensuring teams are allocated across projects.
• Identify and manage technical risks, supporting design reviews and trade-offs.

Skills

Engineering management

Leadership

People management

Multidisciplinary teams

Recruitment

Manufacturing collaboration

Education

Degree in Engineering or Physics

Job description

Role: Interim/Contract Engineering Manager
Salary: £Neg
Hours: Mon-Fri, core hours 08:30 – 17:00 (must be flexible depending on business needs)
Location: Marden, Kent
Contract: Full-time, Permanent

KHR is working with a growing and well-established engineering and manufacturing business, is currently recruiting for a short-term Interim/Contract Engineering Manager to lead a multidisciplinary engineering function.

Our client is looking for someone who can hit the ground running and is comfortable leading a multidisciplinary engineering function, covering mechanical, electronics, software and physics/systems. The candidate must have strong people management experience, alongside the ability to provide leadership and structure to the team, oversee current engineering priorities, and work closely with manufacturing.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop multidisciplinary teams across different areas of engineering.
• Manage recruitment, appraisals, performance, coaching and ongoing development of engineers.
• Manage multidisciplinary engineering projects, ensuring technical, quality, cost and delivery requirements are met.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership, problem-solving and engineering decision-making.
• Support engineering strategy, innovation, resource planning and continuous improvement.
• Oversee engineering resources and priorities, ensuring teams are effectively allocated across multiple projects and business requirements.
• Identify and manage technical risks, supporting design reviews, technical trade-offs and ensuring engineering solutions meet standards.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong Engineering Management level experience.
• Proven leadership of multidisciplinary engineering teams, across multiple areas of engineering/manufacturing
• Genuine people management experience, including recruitment, performance management and development.
• Experience working closely with manufacturing and production.
• Ideally from electronics, medical, defence, software, scientific or another complex engineering environment.
• A hands-on and technically engaged leadership style rather than purely strategic experience.
• Degree-qualified in Engineering, Physics or a related discipline.