Continuous Improvement Engineer

UBCO; Mount Maunganui; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

UBCO in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand is seeking a Continuous Improvement Engineer to investigate field issues, perform root-cause analysis, and develop practical solutions for our electric utility vehicles.

You’ll work with Product Development, Technical & Customer Services, Supply Chain, Production, and Sales to translate insights into engineering changes and validate improvements in real-world conditions.

Qualifications

• Qualification in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline, with 3+ years' experience in product engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, reliability engineering, or a related field.
• Alternatively, significant equivalent industry experience (typically 8+ years) in a highly technical product, engineering, manufacturing, or reliability-focused role.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience investigating technical problems and identifying root causes.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications, and test results.
• Experience working with engineering change processes and technical documentation.

Responsibilities

• Owning investigations into field issues, warranty claims, safety concerns, and product failures to identify root causes and define the most effective path forward.
• Analyzing customer feedback, service data, testing results, and product performance information to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Bringing together cross-functional stakeholders to build alignment on issues, prioritise actions, and drive improvement initiatives forward.
• Developing and validating practical engineering solutions that improve product reliability, durability, safety, quality, and customer experience.
• Driving engineering changes through the ECR process, ensuring proposed solutions are assessed, approved, and successfully implemented.
• Evaluating the impact of proposed changes on product quality, manufacturability, serviceability, cost, and overall customer outcomes.
• Tracking corrective and preventative actions through to completion, ensuring responsibilities are clear, actions are delivered, and momentum is maintained.
• Verifying that implemented solutions achieve the intended outcome in the field and recommending further action where required.
• Getting hands-on with vehicles in the workshop, testing environments, and occasionally the field to better understand real-world performance and validate improvement opportunities.

Skills

Root cause analysis

Data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Hands-on problem solving

Engineering judgment

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

PDM

FEA

Job description

About this Position:

Why did it fail? Why is it happening in the field but not during testing? What changed? How do we make sure it never happens again?

As our Continuous Improvement Engineer, you'll investigate product issues and work out how to prevent them from happening again. You'll look at customer feedback, warranty claims, vehicle performance, testing results, and service data to identify root causes and develop practical solutions.

You'll work closely with teams across the business to drive product issues through the full improvement process, from initial investigation and root cause analysis through to solution development, validation, and implementation.

You'll take ownership of ensuring actions are progressed, stakeholders stay aligned, and improvements deliver the intended outcome in the field. Lessons learned will then be fed back into future product development and product updates.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in improving a growing electric vehicle platform, helping ensure our products continue to become more capable, reliable, and effective for the people who depend on them every day.

What You'll Be Doing

A big part of this role is understanding how our vehicles perform in the real world and using that information to make them better.

Some days you'll be investigating a failed component, a recurring warranty issue, or a piece of customer feedback. Other days you'll be reviewing data, testing potential solutions, working through engineering changes, or spending time in the workshop with your sleeves rolled up to gain a hands-on understanding of what's actually happening.

You'll act as the key link between Product Development, Technical & Customer Services, Supply Chain, Production, and Sales bringing together insights from across the business to ensure field issues, warranty concerns, safety risks, and customer feedback are thoroughly investigated, translated into practical engineering solutions, and followed through to successful outcomes.

A typical week might include:

• Owning investigations into field issues, warranty claims, safety concerns, and product failures to identify root causes and define the most effective path forward.
• Analysing customer feedback, service data, testing results, and product performance information to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Bringing together cross-functional stakeholders to build alignment on issues, prioritise actions, and drive improvement initiatives forward.
• Developing and validating practical engineering solutions that improve product reliability, durability, safety, quality, and customer experience.
• Driving engineering changes through the ECR process, ensuring proposed solutions are assessed, approved, and successfully implemented.
• Evaluating the impact of proposed changes on product quality, manufacturability, serviceability, cost, and overall customer outcomes.
• Tracking corrective and preventative actions through to completion, ensuring responsibilities are clear, actions are delivered, and momentum is maintained.
• Verifying that implemented solutions achieve the intended outcome in the field and recommending further action where required.
• Getting hands-on with vehicles in the workshop, testing environments, and occasionally the field to better understand real-world performance and validate improvement opportunities.

Essential Skills and Experience

We're more interested in your ability to solve problems and improve products than the path you took to get there.

You might be a mechanical engineer, product engineer, reliability engineer, manufacturing engineer, product support engineer, or someone who has built equivalent capability through hands-on industry experience.

To be considered for this role, applicants must already hold permanent work rights in New Zealand, as we are unable to provide visa sponsorship.

To be successful in this role, you'll need to bring:

• A qualification in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline, with 3+ years' experience in product engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, reliability engineering, or a related field.
• Alternatively, significant equivalent industry experience (typically 8+ years) in a highly technical product, engineering, manufacturing, or reliability-focused role, demonstrating strong engineering judgement and problem-solving capability.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience investigating technical problems and identifying root causes.
• Experience analysing technical information and turning findings into practical solutions.
• The ability to interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications, and test results.
• Experience working with engineering change processes and technical documentation.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across multiple teams.
• The ability to manage multiple investigations, priorities, and projects at the same time.
• A hands-on approach and willingness to get close to the product to understand issues firsthand.
• Strong attention to detail and a commitment to quality, safety, and customer outcomes.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced environment where priorities can shift as new information emerges.
• Applicants must hold permanent work rights in New Zealand.

Nice to Have

You'll stand out if you have experience in any of the following:

• Automotive, electric vehicle, industrial equipment, manufacturing, agricultural equipment, or consumer products industries.
• Investigating warranty claims, field failures, reliability concerns, or service-related issues.
• Root cause analysis methodologies such as 8D, 5 Why, Fishbone, or Failure Analysis.
• SolidWorks, PDM, or FEA tools.
• Quality and risk assessment methodologies such as FMEA.
• Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, or Six Sigma practices.
• Working closely with production, supply chain, technical support, or customer-facing teams.
• Products that combine mechanical, electrical, and software systems.

About Us

We’re Utility Fleet Vehicles, a small, passionate team based in Mount Maunganui, building electric utility vehicles that are made to work. Our roots go back to UBCO, and we’ve carried forward the best of that legacy: innovation, grit, and a drive to make things better.

We focus on creating tough, reliable vehicles for fleets. We support industries like conservation, law enforcement, tourism, agriculture, postal services, defense, and delivery. Our vehicles are utility-first: safe, quiet, easy to use, and ready to handle whatever the outdoors throws at them.

Our team is a powerhouse of talent and passion.

We combine deep technical expertise with entrepreneurial spirit and practical problem-solving. This mix lets us rapidly prototype, test, and deliver real-world solutions. We work closely with our customers to understand how they operate and what they’re trying to achieve, then deliver the right tools to help them get there.

Continuous development is in our DNA. We use customer feedback, learn fast, and constantly push the boundaries of what’s possible with electric utility vehicles. Every upgrade improves performance, reliability, and usability, always with sustainability in mind.

Why Join Us

• See the impact of your work. The improvements you make won't sit in a report. They'll make their way into real vehicles used by customers every day.
• Get close to the product. This isn't an engineering role where you're stuck behind a desk. You'll spend time with the vehicles, investigating issues, testing solutions, and seeing how things work in real world.
• Work across the whole business. From Product Development and Production through to Technical & Customer Services, you'll collaborate with the people closest to the product and customer.
• Take ownership. We trust people to make decisions, solve problems, and drive improvements from idea through to implementation.
• Join a good team. We’re practical, collaborative, and low on ego. People pitch in, help each other out, and care about building something great.

If you are passionate about the role but don’t tick every box, we still want to hear from you.

At Utility Fleet Vehicles, we believe diverse teams create stronger, more creative, and resilient products. We celebrate different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels welcome and valued.

We encourage applications from people of all genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, abilities, ages, and cultures.

Please let us know if you need any help or accommodations during the hiring process. We want to make sure everyone has a fair chance.

Please note: We are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position. Applicants must already hold permanent work rights in New Zealand.