Senior Production Engineer - Defence Manufacturing Leader

Chess Dynamics; Horsham; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Group pension

Income protection

Life assurance

Share incentive plan

EV salary sacrifice

Wellbeing initiatives

Job summary

Chess Dynamics is seeking a Senior Production Engineer to lead end-to-end production capability for defence-grade hardware systems. You will influence design for manufacturability, drive process development, and ensure production readiness from prototype through full-rate manufacturing.

The role requires senior technical authority, mentoring teams, and delivering robust production solutions in a secure, highly regulated environment with hybrid/flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing or Production Engineering (or equivalent).
• Demonstrated experience in a defence, aerospace, automotive or similarly regulated environment.
• Experience leading NPI activities and transitioning to full-rate manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of DFMA principles and embedding manufacturability into design.
• Working knowledge of IPC, MIL-STD and regulated manufacturing standards.
• Proven root cause investigations and corrective actions (8D, DMAIC, 5-Why).
• Experience driving cost reduction, yield improvement, and cycle-time optimisation.
• Excellent cross-functional communication and collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Translate hardware designs into robust, scalable production processes compliant with defence standards.
• Develop and optimise production workflows, tooling, fixtures, and test procedures.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions to reduce defects.
• Collaborate with design engineering to influence early design decisions for manufacturability.
• Create and maintain manufacturing documentation and control plans.
• Support NPI from prototype to full-rate production.
• Ensure regulatory compliance, health and safety, and traceability.
• Manage CAPEX proposals including ROI analysis.

Skills

DFMA

DFM/ DFA

3D CAD

Regulated industry

Root cause analysis

Continuous improvement

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Education

Degree in Mechanical/Electrical/Manufacturing or Production Engineering

Tools

3D CAD software

Job description

Chess Dynamics is seeking a Senior Production Engineer to lead end-to-end production capability for defence-grade hardware systems. You will influence design for manufacturability, drive process development, and ensure production readiness from prototype through full-rate manufacturing.

The role requires senior technical authority, mentoring teams, and delivering robust production solutions in a secure, highly regulated environment with hybrid/flexible working arrangements.