Senior Production Engineer

April Quest; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

27 days annual leave

Pension scheme

Income protection

Life assurance

EV salary sacrifice

Healthcare cover

Job summary

April Quest is seeking a Senior Production Engineer / Team Leader to lead a small Process/Production Engineering team in a hands-on capacity. You will act as the gatekeeper between Engineering and Production, ensuring tooling, documentation and manufacturing readiness for release into production.

The role is primarily site-based with a 4 days onsite / 1 day from home hybrid arrangement, requiring flexibility to adapt to operational needs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Mechatronics, Electrical, Electronics or Mechanical Engineering.
• Hands-on engineering experience in a manufacturing, production or test environment.
• Structured problem solving and root-cause analysis to resolve issues.

Responsibilities

• Lead a small Process/Production Engineering team of 5–8 engineers.
• Ensure products, processes, tooling and documentation are production-ready before release.
• Resolve production, build and test issues and support NPI and project engineering.

Skills

Mechatronics/Engineering

Hands-on manufacturing

Root-cause analysis

Test equipment & tooling

People leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

CAD

ERP/MRP systems

Python basics

Job description

An innovative, established technology manufacturer developing specialist high-performance systems for a range of global industrial and technology markets.

Info about what the Senior Production Engineer / Team Leader role entails

This is a hands‑on technical leadership role within Operations, leading a small Process / Production Engineering team supporting a low‑volume, high‑value manufacturing environment. The role acts as a key gatekeeper between Engineering and Production ensuring products, processes, tooling, documentation and manufacturing requirements are fully ready before release into production. You will lead a small team covering Process Engineering, Special Processes, NPI and Project Engineering, while remaining technically involved in resolving production, build and test issues. Typical activities include attending daily Operations meetings, reviewing production turnbacks, investigating root causes, improving tooling and work instructions, supporting calibration and test equipment, coordinating technical priorities, and helping deliver new product introductions. The position is primarily site based, with a 4 days onsite / 1 day from home hybrid arrangement, although flexibility will be required depending on operational needs.

Essential Requirements of the Senior Production Engineer / Team Leader

• Technical engineering background in Mechatronics, Electrical, Electronics or Mechanical Engineering.
• Strong hands‑on engineering experience within a manufacturing, production or test environment.
• Experience investigating and resolving production, build and test issues using structured problem solving and root‑cause analysis.
• Experience working with production processes, test equipment, tooling, calibration or similar technical assets.
• Previous experience leading, mentoring or coordinating engineers, or strong evidence of the people skills and capability to step into a Team Leader role.
• Able to provide day‑to‑day leadership, coaching and mentoring across a technical engineering team.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to balance hands‑on technical delivery, priorities, ownership and accountability
• Experience coordinating technical work, resources and priorities across multiple engineering activities.
• Strong communication and stakeholder‑management skills, working cross‑functionally with Engineering, Production, Quality and Purchasing.

Desirable Requirements of the Senior Production Engineer / Team Leader

• Experience within low‑volume, high‑value manufacturing.
• Lean / Continuous Improvement qualification such as Yellow Belt or Green Belt, or practical CI experience.
• Experience supporting new product introduction, process development and production‑readiness activities, including DfM and manufacturing handover.
• Experience supporting 1:1s, objective setting, performance management and employee development, or a clear desire and capability to develop in these areas.
• Experience with engineering and manufacturing tools such as CAD, ERP/MRP systems, basic scripting/programming such as Python, and manufacturing/test technologies.
• Previous exposure to calibration, soak testing, final test or technically complex production processes.

Benefits

• Discretionary company performance bonus
• 27 days’ annual leave plus public holidays
• Workplace pension with 5% employee and 5% employer contributions via salary sacrifice
• Income protection coverLife assurance / death‑in‑service benefit
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme
• Smart‑casual working environment
• Private healthcare cover

*There is no visa sponsorship available for this role*