Workshop Manager (Robotics)

Mentor Talent Acquisition; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health insurance

Dental insurance

28 days leave

Training programs

Job summary

Mentor Talent Acquisition in London seeks a hands-on Workshop Manager to lead our advanced manufacturing facility. You will organize multidisciplinary spaces, oversee layout, equipment, stock and budget while building safety documentation and RAMS to withstand HSE scrutiny.

You'll be on the floor daily, enforce safe practices, build processes from scratch, and collaborate with senior engineers and founders to drive efficient, safe production across robotic cells, timber processing and modular

Qualifications

• Proven experience running a multidisciplinary engineering workshop (R&D, robotics, advanced manufacturing).
• Experience developing risk assessments and safe working practices.
• Ability to document, formalise and maintain processes and risk assessments.
• Comfortable setting up new processes from scratch in a fast-moving environment.
• Capability to enforce safety rules with senior staff and founders.

Responsibilities

• Plan layout and workflows for a multidisciplinary space (3D printing, robotics, timber fabrication).
• Manage incoming/outgoing goods, stock and budget for the London facility.
• Develop RAMS and risk assessments for evolving R&D setups and modular builds.
• Oversee safety, PUWER, LOLER, COSHH compliance and audit readiness.
• Provide training and inductions for engineers, contractors and visitors.

Skills

Workshop management

H&S leadership

Documentation & RAMS

Budget & procurement

Cross-functional teamwork

Enforce safety on floor

Education

IOSH Managing Safely

NEBOSH National General Certificate

Tools

RAMS drafting

Office tools

Job description

Take charge of our London advanced manufacturing facility. The site brings together robotic cells, timber processing, electrical builds and complete modular factory assemblies, often within the same week. It needs to operate like a well-organised production space while keeping pace with the speed of R&D.

You'd be responsible for the daily running of the workshop, including layout, equipment, suppliers, stock and budget. We also want to support your growth as you build out the production and operational health and safety documentation and resources for the site: risk assessments, oversight of floor activity, training, COSHH, PUWER, LOLER and audit readiness. You'd make it easy for engineers to build quickly and safely, and you will be given the authority to stop work whenever it is unsafe.

There is no existing system to inherit. You'd help create the structure from the ground up: processes that withstand HSE scrutiny without slowing engineers down. You must be hands-on enough to be on the workshop floor daily, while confident enough to stand your ground with senior engineers when it counts.

Key responsibilities

• Workshop operations: Plan the layout and workflows of a multidisciplinary space (3D printing, electronics, robotics and timber fabrication) so that builds and tests run smoothly, without bottlenecks or downtime;
• Suppliers, stock and budget: Handle incoming and outgoing goods for the London facility, as well as modular factory production and testing operations;
• Supporting deployments: Work with the teams preparing modular factory units for shipment so that the safe practices established in London travel with the hardware to customer sites;
• Workshop oversight: Stay aware of daily activity on the floor, approve higher-risk tasks before they begin and step in early when working practices slip. Build on the existing culture of proactive, blame-free near-miss reporting, where every near miss leads to a fix;
• Path to Competent Person: Work towards becoming the named H&S Competent Person for the London site under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, keeping the site aligned with HSE guidance and wider best practice and ready for audit at all times;
• Risk assessments and RAMS: Write and maintain RAMS for constantly changing R&D setups, from new robot cells and test rigs to full modular factory builds, lifts and moves;
• Statutory compliance and COSHH: Own the inspection and testing schedules across PUWER, LOLER, LEV and PAT (industrial robots, lifting equipment and dust extraction) and manage COSHH controls for wood dust, adhesives, coatings and batteries;
• Training and inductions: Identify training needs across the team, then organise and track training and certification. Deliver a quick, practical induction for new engineers, contractors and visitors.

About you

• Workshop management experience: You have run a multidisciplinary engineering workshop, ideally in R&D, robotics, automotive, aerospace or advanced manufacturing;
• H&S credentials and experience: You have developed risk assessments and method statements and are keen to build out safe working practices;
• Comfortable documenting and formalising processes: You are at ease with a range of digital tools for recording, updating and maintaining processes and risk assessments;
• Builder of structure: You are comfortable with ambiguity and have set up processes from scratch in a fast-moving environment without stifling the engineers;
• Firm but collaborative: You can enforce safety rules with anyone, including senior engineers and founders, and you bring people along rather than policing them.

Nice-to-haves

• IOSH Managing Safely (or equivalent) plus substantial hands-on H&S experience in an engineering or manufacturing workshop, including writing risk assessments and managing statutory inspections;
• NEBOSH National General Certificate (or higher). If you do not hold it yet, you will be supported to complete it within your first 6 months;
• Experience with industrial robot cell safety (e.g. ISO 10218, guarding, interlocks and safety PLCs);
• Experience in timber processing, offsite construction or construction manufacturing;
• Exposure to UKCA and CE machinery compliance for in-house built equipment;
• A forklift licence and skilled use. If you do not hold one yet, you will be supported to obtain it within your first few weeks.

What we offer

• Direct exposure to cutting-edge advanced robotics and the modular factories deployed to customer sites;
• Training towards your IOSH certificate and, in time, your NEBOSH National General Certificate;
• High autonomy and ownership of the role;
• Meaningful equity that reflects the seniority of the position;
• 28 bookable days of annual leave, plus bank holidays and a seasonal office closure;
• Well-being support, including health and dental insurance;
• A values-led working culture that shapes how the team operates.