Manufacturing Development Lead – Scale-Up & Process

Material Evolution; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday entitlement: 25 days + your B’

Learning & development budget

Healthcare partner

Social events

Job summary

Material Evolution is a forward-leaning materials technology company driving decarbonisation in industrial manufacturing. We seek a Manufacturing Operations leader to guide production, maintenance, and process development across the scale-up to commercial production.

You will lead teams, implement robust maintenance and safety practices, optimise productivity, and partner with R&D to translate lab innovations into scalable manufacturing solutions.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in manufacturing, production engineering or industrial operations.
• Proven ability to lead production teams and manage day-to-day manufacturing activities.
• Hands-on equipment maintenance experience.
• Experience implementing PPM programmes, fault finding and troubleshooting industrial equipment.
• Good understanding of manufacturing processes, production planning and operational efficiency.
• Experience improving equipment reliability, production performance and manufacturing processes.
• Strong knowledge of industrial health and safety requirements.
• Confident interpreting technical drawings, equipment manuals and engineering documentation.
• Strong leadership, communication, organisation and problem-solving skills.
• A proactive, hands-on approach with the ability to take ownership and work independently.

Responsibilities

• Lead production teams, managing performance, training and development.
• Oversee production planning, resources, stock control and operational delivery.
• Ensure manufacturing targets, quality standards and efficiency are achieved.
• Develop and manage planned preventative maintenance (PPM) programmes.
• Undertake hands-on fault finding, troubleshooting and equipment maintenance.
• Lead equipment installation, commissioning and upgrades, coordinating external contractors where required.
• Lead manufacturing process development and scale-up to commercial production.
• Work with R&D teams to introduce and optimise manufacturing processes.
• Drive improvements in equipment performance, automation and production capacity.
• Ensure compliance with health, safety and quality requirements.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Problem-solving

Organisation

Independent working

Mechanical understanding

Education

Engineering qualification or recognised apprenticeship

Tools

PLC/HMI/SCADA knowledge

Job description

Material Evolution is a forward-leaning materials technology company driving decarbonisation in industrial manufacturing. We seek a Manufacturing Operations leader to guide production, maintenance, and process development across the scale-up to commercial production.

You will lead teams, implement robust maintenance and safety practices, optimise productivity, and partner with R&D to translate lab innovations into scalable manufacturing solutions.