Tooling Engineer

Lithe Consulting Ltd; Stone; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Lithe Consulting Ltd in Stone, UK, is seeking an experienced Tooling Engineer/Toolmaker to own tooling across production, repair, refurbishment and trials on site at a long-established polymer manufacturer.

The role requires practical engineering expertise, welding and fabrication skills, and the ability to work independently to keep tooling safe and ready for manufacture. Based in Stone with on-site duties and a permanent, full-time contract.

Qualifications

• Previous experience within tooling, toolmaking, fabrication, maintenance engineering or a toolroom environment.
• Strong hands-on welding (ideally aluminium welding) and fabrication skills.
• Good bench fitting and practical engineering skills.
• Experience using manual machine tools.
• The ability to read and work accurately from engineering drawings.
• Good fault-finding and practical problem-solving ability.
• The confidence to work independently and organise your own workload.
• A quality-focused approach and pride in producing a high standard of engineering work.

Responsibilities

• Inspecting, maintaining, repairing and refurbishing rotational mould tools and PU RIM tooling.
• Diagnosing tooling problems including wear, distortion, damage, leaks, alignment issues and surface defects.
• Carrying out welding and fabrication repairs, including aluminium welding.
• Modifying, repairing and improving tools, fixtures and associated components.
• Using manual workshop machinery including lathes, mills, pillar drills and grinders.
• Carrying out fitting, bench work and practical tooling modifications.
• Completing preventative maintenance to improve reliability, extend tool life and minimise production downtime.
• Maintaining clear records of tooling condition, maintenance and repairs.
• Maintaining high workshop housekeeping and health & safety standards.

Skills

Hands-on engineering

Welding

Fabrication

Reading engineering drawings

Problem solving

Independent working

Safety consciousness

Tools

Lathes

Mills

Pillar drills

Grinders

Manual machine tools

Job description

Stone, United Kingdom | Posted on 09/03/2026

Location: Stone, Staffordshire
Salary: Up to £50,000
Permanent | Full-time

The Opportunity

If you're an experienced Tooling Engineer, Toolmaker or hands-on engineer who enjoys solving practical problems rather than sitting behind a desk, this is an opportunity to take real ownership of tooling within an established UK manufacturing business.

My client specialises in advanced polymer manufacturing, producing technically challenging components for customers across automotive, healthcare, industrial equipment and other specialist sectors. The business works with processes including rotational moulding and polyurethane reaction injection moulding (RIM), taking products from prototype and development through to manufacture and assembly.

It is a privately owned, long-established company with an experienced leadership team and a loyal workforce. Continued investment in manufacturing capability, technology and people means they are now looking for an experienced Tooling Engineer to join their operation in Stone.

What You'll Be Doing

This is a practical, workshop-based engineering role where you'll take responsibility for keeping production tooling safe, reliable and ready to manufacture quality components.

You'll have the autonomy to assess problems, decide on the most appropriate repair or modification and carry out the work yourself.

Your Responsibilities Will Include

• Inspecting, maintaining, repairing and refurbishing rotational mould tools and PU RIM tooling
• Diagnosing tooling problems including wear, distortion, damage, leaks, alignment issues and surface defects
• Carrying out welding and fabrication repairs, including aluminium welding
• Modifying, repairing and improving tools, fixtures and associated components
• Using manual workshop machinery including lathes, mills, pillar drills and grinders
• Carrying out fitting, bench work and practical tooling modifications
• Completing preventative maintenance to improve reliability, extend tool life and minimise production downtime
• Supporting tooling trials, production start-ups and practical problem-solving on the shop floor
• Working from engineering drawings to repair and modify tooling accurately
• Ensuring tooling consistently supports product quality and safe, efficient production
• Maintaining clear records of tooling condition, maintenance and repairs
• Maintaining high workshop housekeeping and health & safety standards

What We're Looking For

We're particularly interested in someone who has developed their skills through practical engineering experience and is comfortable taking ownership of a problem from diagnosis through to repair.

You Should Have

• Previous experience within tooling, toolmaking, fabrication, maintenance engineering or a toolroom environment
• Strong hands-on welding (ideally aluminium welding) and fabrication skills
• Good bench fitting and practical engineering skills
• Experience using manual machine tools
• The ability to read and work accurately from engineering drawings
• Good fault-finding and practical problem-solving ability
• The confidence to work independently and organise your own workload
• A quality-focused approach and pride in producing a high standard of engineering work

Particularly Useful Experience

You don't need to tick every box below, but experience in any of these areas would be valuable:

• Rotational moulding / rotomoulding tooling
• PU RIM tooling
• Plastic or polymer manufacturing
• Tool refurbishment and modification
• Legacy production tooling
• Manufacturing environments where tooling availability and uptime are critical

The Person

This role will suit someone who is naturally hands-on, practical and resourceful.

You'll be trusted to get on with the job, so you'll need to be reliable, accountable and comfortable making practical engineering decisions without requiring constant supervision.

You'll also need to remain calm when production needs a tool back quickly, while refusing to compromise on safety or the quality of the repair.

Why Consider It?

This isn't a role where you'll spend your day carrying out repetitive work from a fixed instruction sheet.

You'll be working with a varied tooling portfolio, diagnosing different engineering problems and using your own experience to determine how best to repair, refurbish or improve each tool.

You'll join a specialist manufacturer with more than five decades of experience in its field, producing components across a remarkably diverse range of industries and continuing to invest in its manufacturing capabilities.

Most importantly, good tooling is fundamental to the performance of this operation. Your work will have a direct impact on production uptime, product quality and the efficiency of the factory.

If you're an experienced Tooling Engineer, Toolmaker or practical workshop engineer looking for a role where your skills and judgement will genuinely be valued, we'd like to hear from you.