Production Engineer

Ultra Personnel; Alberton; On-site; ZAR 450,000 - 750,000; Full time

Job summary

Ultra Personnel seeks a Production Engineer embedded on the factory floor to make products easier, faster and more repeatable through tooling, jigs and fixtures, optimised processes and clear, high-quality work instructions. The role supports lean transformation and rework-reduction initiatives on the shop floor.

You will provide producibility feedback to the Design team, collaborate with Quality and Engineering, and ensure adherence to design data and tooling standards while keeping a strict

Qualifications

• National Diploma or BEng/BTech in Mechanical, Industrial, Aeronautical or Manufacturing Engineering.
• Minimum 5 years' experience in a manufacturing engineering, process engineering or tooling role, ideally in aerospace, automotive or precision fabrication.
• Proven CAD competence (Solidworks preferred) including tooling and fixture design.
• Working knowledge of lean manufacturing tools (5S, standard work, line balancing, value stream mapping); Six Sigma Green Belt or lean certification advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Tooling, Jigs & Fixtures: Design, improve and maintain production tooling, jigs and fixtures, including drawings to company CAD and drawing standards.
• Administer tooling configuration control: every jig and fixture revision documented, approved and traceable.
• Support tooling 5S, identification and calibration/verification programmes on the floor.

Skills

Lean manufacturing

Documentation

Problem solving

Floor-based

Education

National Diploma or BEng/BTech in Mechanical, Industrial, Aeronautical or Manufacturing Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Job description

Purpose of the Role

The Production Engineer is the production line's dedicated engineering resource. Embedded on the factory floor and reporting to Production, this role exists to make products easier, faster and more repeatable to build through improved tooling, jigs and fixtures, optimised processes and layouts, and clear, high-quality work instructions. The Production Engineer also provides structured producibility feedback to the Design team. The role carries no design authority; any change affecting product design or specification data must be proposed to and approved by Engineering. This is a hands-on engineering role at the heart of a growing manufacturing operation, central to the company's lean transformation and rework-reduction initiatives.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Tooling, Jigs & Fixtures
  • Design, improve and maintain production tooling, jigs and fixtures, including drawings to company CAD and drawing standards.
  • Administer tooling configuration control: every jig and fixture revision documented, approved and traceable.
  • Support tooling 5S, identification and calibration/verification programmes on the floor.
• Process Optimisation
  • Define, document and improve build process sequences, cycle times and line balance in support of takt-based bay oriented production.
  • Lead time-and-motion, ergonomics and workstation design improvements.
  • Plan and implement cell and plant layout changes, material presentation and point-of-use tooling.
• Work Instructions & Build Quality
  • Develop, review and continuously improve work instructions in collaboration with Quality and Engineering, ensuring clarity, correct sequencing and alignment with approved design data.
  • Analyse snag, rework and non-conformance trends and engineer out the root causes, supporting the War on Rework campaign.
  • Support production problem-solving (RCA, 5-Why, A3) as the engineering resource on cross functional teams.
• Producibility & Engineering Interface
  • Provide structured producibility feedback to Engineering as a formal input to design reviews.
  • Propose design-affecting improvements through the engineering change process.
  • Participate in the monthly Production Engineering-Engineering technical review and maintain tooling / drawing standards set by the Engineering technical authority.
• Authority Boundary

  The Production Engineer may design and change tooling, processes, layouts and work instructions within approved design data. The role may not change design data (dimensions, materials, or processes with certification or other relevant significance), disposition non-conformances affecting design intent, or approve deviations or concessions. These authorities rest exclusively with Engineering.

Essential requirements:

• Qualifications & Experience
  • National Diploma or BEng/BTech in Mechanical, Industrial, Aeronautical or Manufacturing Engineering.
  • Minimum 5 years' experience in a manufacturing engineering, process engineering or tooling role, ideally in aerospace, automotive or precision fabrication.
  • Proven CAD competence (Solidworks preferred) including tooling and fixture design.
  • Working knowledge of lean manufacturing tools (5S, standard work, line balancing, value stream mapping); Six Sigma Green Belt or lean certification advantageous.
• Attributes
  • Floor-based by preference – comfortable spending the working day in the factory, not behind a desk.
  • Rigorous about documentation, configuration control and the design/production authority boundary.
  • Practical problem-solver who works through and with artisans, team leaders and managers rather than around them.
  • Able to hold engineering standards under production pressure.