Lead Manufacturing Technician

Dogtooth Technologies Limited; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Dogtooth Technologies Limited in Cambridge seeks a Lead Manufacturing Technician to drive scale-up for autonomous robotics in agriculture. You will supervise technicians, build and test equipment, and upgrade fleets while ensuring safety, 5S, and continuous improvement.

You will work with engineers to develop processes and maintain documentation. You will be hands-on with electromechanical systems, read drawings, and diagnose faults while mentoring a growing team and coordinating day-to-day

Qualifications

• Several years experience as a technician in manufacturing.
• Team leadership experience and ability to supervise others.
• Able to assemble, modify, fault-find, and repair electromechanical systems.
• Confident reading mechanical drawings and electrical schematics.
• Able to use workshop equipment safely and effectively.
• Capable of diagnosing faults systematically and efficiently.
• Post-18 study in engineering/science or willingness to pursue.

Responsibilities

• Provides day-to-day supervision of the technician team.
• Creates and updates process documentation for continuous manufacturing improvement.
• Manages daily safety and 5S metrics.
• Supports build methods and documentation for existing and new products.
• Provides technical support during builds and repairs on-site.
• Assists operations sites with diagnosis and repair.
• Collaborates with production engineer to reduce cycle times.
• Maintains traceability and efficiency metrics for processes.

Skills

Team leadership

Fault finding

Reading drawings

Electrical schematics

Diagnostics

Data-driven

Problem solving

Education

Engineering/Science background

Job description

Would you like to be part of building a brand new industry?
We are looking for a talented Lead Manufacturing Technician to help drive the
Manufacturing scale-up of our rapidly growing technology business.
Dogtooth is a Cambridge-based technology start-up specialising in autonomous
robotics for fruit harvesting. Founded ten years ago, we have successfully developed,
manufactured, and deployed five generations of strawberry picking robots on farms in
Europe and Australia. Our team combines considerable expertise in manufacturing,
mechanical, electronics, and software engineering, and machine learning computer
vision.

Overview of Role

Working as a team lead, you will contribute to equipment build and test, and the repair, refurbishment and upgrade of existing fleet equipment while assisting with the day-to-day coordination and leadership of the technician team to ensure work is completed safely, efficiently, and to the required standard.

In order to do this, you will need to ensure that

• Safety and 5S standards are adhered to and improved where needed
• Build instructions are followed and cross-trained
• Continuous improvement opportunities are acted upon appropriately

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provides day-to-day supervision of the technician team.
• Creates and updates process documentation to provide continuous manufacturing improvement.
• Is responsible for daily metrics, such as safety and “5S”.
• Supports the creation and continuous improvement of methods and documentation for the manufacture of new and existing products.
• Supports technicians through technical support during build, ensuring they have what they need to continue their work.
• Supports our operations sites through diagnosis and repair.
• Supports the production engineer in identifying and fixing cycle time wastes in our processes.
• Upholds and maintains used processes to ensure traceability and accurate efficiency metrics.
• Holds technicians accountable for meeting agreed standards and completing assigned work.
• Escalates formal disciplinary matters appropriately and in accordance with company policy.
• Works with the production engineer to plan and develop our technician skills matrix.

Qualifications / Experience

• Several years experience working as a technician within a manufacturing environment.
• Team leadership experience.
• Able to assemble, modify, fault-find, and repair electromechanical systems.
• Confident reading mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, and assembly instructions.
• Able to use common workshop/engineering equipment safely and effectively.
• Able to diagnose faults systematically rather than relying on trial and error.
• Understands basic principles of sensors, motors, actuators, wiring, connectors and mechanical assemblies.
• Post-18 study in an engineering / science subject – or an ambition to do so!
• Full clean driving licence.
• Must be eligible to work in the UK.
• Aptitude for practical mechanical and electrical work.
• Disciplined, with a strong sense of urgency.
• Takes initiative when work is completed to find more work.
• Reliable.
• Prioritises in alignment with company goals.
• Able to recognise when something is outside their competence and upscale appropriately.
• Draws the correct balance between following process and knowing when to stop and ask.
• Data-driven and curious in problem solving.
• Sensitive to the needs of a growing business has to be flexible and agile.
• Likes simple solutions.
• Happy to work wherever Gemba is. This may include customer sites.
• Personable, emotionally intelligent, and creates a positive working environment.

Key Relationships

• Reports to the Production Engineer.
• Works with other Lead Technicians to deliver key business metrics.
• Assists in supervising Junior Technicians.
• Works with the Manufacturing & Electronics Engineers to develop and learn new processes.

Performance Measurement

Dogtooth operates daily management. As a member of the manufacturing team, you will contribute to hitting targets and continuous improvement in

• Safety / 5s – A safe workplace organised to productively deliver our best work
• Quality – Using and improving methods and documentation; recording issues
• Delivery – Your work helping deliver our daily and longer term growth plan
• Productivity – Your work will be measured against standards

Available to a successful candidate

• Hands-on work with cutting-edge robotics.
• In depth training in lean manufacturing such as 5S, Ishikawa diagrams for fault finding, Value stream mapping, standardised work, kaizen.
• Real ownership and responsibility.
• See the entire life cycle of robots from conception to product support in their installed base.
• Be part of a rapidly growing hardware manufacturing business.
• Bring your dog to work.