Production Engineer - Software

Company Profile

Thermoteknix Systems Ltd, founded in 1982 and based in Cambridge, is a world leader in thermal imaging, night vision, and augmented reality systems. Our award‑winning technologies are trusted by defence, security, and industrial customers in over 70 countries. With in‑house R&D, cutting‑edge innovation, and a global reputation for quality, we design and manufacture solutions that perform in the toughest environments.

Location:

Waterbeach, UK

Department: R&D – Production Engineering

Reports to:

Production Engineering Manager

Type:
Full‑time, Permanent

Thermoteknix is establishing a new Production Engineering team within R&D to transition products from development into robust, scalable manufacturing. The Software Production Engineer will play a key role in developing software to aid our production process.

This role will focus on the software aspects of New Product Introduction (NPI), production test automation, device programming, configuration control, and continuous improvement of manufacturing processes.

• Support the structured transfer of products from R&D into engineering and manufacturing.
• Work with other team members to develop a test strategy for each product and analyse test coverage of designs.
• Collaborate with the engineering team to maximise testability prior to production.

• Create and maintain automated production test solutions for functional verification, calibration, and system‑level validation.
• Work with electronics and systems engineers to integrate test software with test fixtures and ATE equipment.

• Define and implement robust processes for firmware flashing, software installation, product configuration, calibration data handling, and version control in production builds.
• Support secure and repeatable programming methods for embedded and system software.
• Ensure correct traceability of software versions through manufacturing and product lifecycle.

• Drive improvements in manufacturing efficiency through better tooling, automation, and streamlined workflows.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manual steps, improve test coverage, and increase production throughput.
• Support design changes and software updates that improve manufacturability, reliability, and serviceability.
• Enhance diagnostic capability and data capture for production and field issue analysis.

• Support diagnosis of hardware faults or process issues found during production.
• Perform root cause analysis and develop corrective actions.
• Support non‑conformance investigations, concessions, and corrective/preventive actions (CAPA).

• Produce and maintain clear software‑related production documentation, including programming instructions, test software user guides, manufacturing configuration procedures, release and version control processes.
• Support configuration management and engineering change control for production software releases.

• Act as the software interface between R&D, Production, Quality, Supply Chain, and Operations.
• Work closely with electronics, embedded software and mechanical engineers to deliver fully integrated production solutions.
• Support supplier and partner engagement where software tools or programming processes are outsourced.
• Contribute to defining standards and best practices for the new Production Engineering team.

• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Embedded Systems, or related discipline.
• Experience developing software tools and scripts for production test and process automation.
• Strong experience using LabVIEW for test automation.
• Strong understanding of software release processes and configuration control.
• Ability to troubleshoot software/firmware issues in embedded or hardware‑integrated systems.
• Strong documentation skills and attention to detail.
• Comfortable working across R&D and production environments.