Tooling Engineer

April Quest; England; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

April Quest is seeking an experienced Tooling Engineer to join our established engineering and manufacturing operation. You will lead tooling performance, supplier capability, and long-term tooling optimisation across our diverse supply chain, with 1-5 year strategy development and cross-functional collaboration.

The role involves hands-on engineering, supplier development, and strategic planning, with travel up to 40% domestically and internationally to visit suppliers and support tooling

Qualifications

• Strong technical experience in injection mould tooling and/or metal stamping tooling, including design, manufacture, maintenance and validation.
• Experience with external tooling suppliers, technical assessments, tooling trials and supplier development.
• Knowledge of tooling lifecycle management and maintenance planning.
• Experience managing tooling projects from development through production readiness.
• Familiarity with PPAP, FAI and capability studies.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and use CAD models.
• Understanding of tooling materials, wear, processes and performance optimisation.
• Experience solving technical issues with structured problem solving.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Willingness to travel up to 40% domestically and internationally.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement tooling strategies for a 1- to 5-year horizon.
• Oversee tooling validation, supplier capability and assessment.
• Drive continuous improvement in tooling performance and reliability.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain, Engineering and Production to align tooling needs with quality and capacity targets.
• Identify tooling risks and support investment decisions.

Skills

Tooling expertise

Injection mould tooling

Metal stamping tooling

Supplier development

Root cause analysis

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Tools

2D CAD

3D CAD

Job description

A global leader in high quality, high volume safety-critical electro-mechanical products that are present in over 100 countries and looking for a Product Manager to join their strategic and technical product management team.

Info about what the Tooling Engineer role entails

An exciting opportunity for an experienced Tooling Engineer to join an established engineering and manufacturing business, taking responsibility for tooling performance, supplier capability and long-term tooling optimisation across a diverse supply chain.

You will play a key role in developing and implementing a 1-5 year tooling strategy, ensuring tooling meets the required quality, capacity and operational standards. Working closely with Supply Chain, Engineering, Production and external suppliers, you will oversee tooling validation, technical assessments, maintenance planning and continuous improvement initiatives.

The position offers a varied mix of hands‑on technical engineering, supplier development and strategic planning, with opportunities for domestic and international travel. You will be instrumental in identifying tooling risks, improving supplier performance and supporting investment decisions to maximise tooling reliability and operational efficiency.

Essential Requirements of the Tooling Engineer

• Strong technical experience in injection mould tooling and/or metal stamping and press tooling, including design, manufacture, maintenance and validation.
• Experience working with external tooling suppliers, conducting technical assessments, tooling trials and supporting supplier development.
• Good understanding of tooling lifecycle management, including condition assessments, preventive maintenance, refurbishment and replacement planning.
• Experience managing tooling projects from initial development through validation and production readiness.
• Knowledge of tooling validation and quality approval processes, including PPAP, FAI and capability studies.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and utilise 2D/3D CAD models.
• Strong understanding of tooling materials, wear mechanisms, manufacturing processes and tooling performance optimisation.
• Experience identifying and resolving technical issues through root cause analysis and structured problem-solving.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across Engineering, Quality, Production and Supply Chain functions.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally to visit suppliers, potentially up to 40% of the time.

Desirable Requirements of the Tooling Engineer

• ce working across multi-commodity manufacturing environments, including injection mouldings, press metalwork, PCBs, components and fasteners.
• Experience developing long-term tooling strategies, including tooling investment, refurbishment and obsolescence planning.
• Knowledge of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 management systems.
• Experience conducting formal supplier quality audits and supporting supplier performance improvement initiatives.
• Familiarity with material control documentation (MCD), engineering change control and technical approval processes.
• Experience using structured problem-solving methodologies such as 8D, 5 Why and Fishbone analysis.
• Experience identifying tooling cost reductions, improving production efficiency and extending tooling life.