Senior Maintenance ​/ NPI Launch Engineer - Automotive Automation

Senior Maintenance / NPI Launch Engineer – Automotive Automation

Contract Position | Halewood | £34.36 per hour PAYE (including holiday pay) | 40–50 hours per week | Contract through to mid-2027

Are you a technically strong automotive engineer who knows how to keep a new production line moving?

We're looking for a hands-on Senior Maintenance, NPI, Manufacturing or Launch Engineer to support a major automotive vehicle launch programme in Halewood.

This is not a traditional maintenance role and it's not a purely project-based NPI position.

We're looking for someone who can be on the production floor when things go wrong — someone who can understand the problem, fault-find, identify what is required to fix it, get the right people involved and help drive the issue through to resolution.

You'll work closely with the customer, engineering teams, maintenance personnel and installation teams to support the successful launch of automated vehicle production lines.

The Role

As the technical lead on the shop floor, you'll help ensure new and existing production equipment is ready to support vehicle launch and that issues are identified and resolved quickly.

You'll be responsible for:

Supporting the launch and commissioning of automated automotive production lines.
Monitoring production build progress and identifying equipment, process and manufacturing issues.
Fault-finding and assessing problems with automated production equipment.
Identifying the parts, tooling, equipment, labour or specialist support required to resolve issues.
Logging and tracking issues by production station and ensuring actions are followed through.
Working directly with the customer/OEM to communicate issues, progress and required actions.
Coordinating maintenance, controls, manufacturing engineering, installation and specialist engineering teams.
Escalating complex technical problems to the appropriate specialists while maintaining ownership of the issue.
Supporting equipment modifications, tooling changes and minor installation/improvement work where required.
Assisting with commissioning, equipment trials and production readiness activities.
Helping identify root causes and implementing practical solutions to keep the launch on schedule.
Supporting continuous improvement and resolving recurring equipment or production issues.

What We're Looking For

You could currently be working as a:

Senior Maintenance Engineer
Engineering Team Leader
Maintenance Team Leader
NPI Engineer
NPI Launch Engineer
Launch Engineer
Manufacturing Engineer
Manufacturing Engineering Lead
Production Engineering Lead
Automation Engineer
Commissioning Engineer
Technical Project Engineer
The job title is less important than your hands-on technical experience within automotive manufacturing.

You'll ideally have:

Previous experience working within the automotive manufacturing industry.
Experience supporting a new vehicle launch, new production line, commissioning or production ramp-up.
Strong fault-finding and problem-solving ability.
A good understanding of automated production equipment and manufacturing processes.
The ability to assess a problem and work out what is needed to fix it.
Experience coordinating maintenance, engineering, installation or specialist teams.
Confidence working directly with an OEM/customer and multiple engineering functions.
The ability to work under pressure in a fast-moving production environment.
A practical, hands-on approach rather than relying solely on escalation.
The confidence to assist with minor equipment, tooling or improvement installations where required.
The ability to read engineering drawings and understand manufacturing equipment would be advantageous.

The Person We're Looking For

We're particularly interested in engineers who have progressed beyond a traditional maintenance role and have developed the ability to take ownership of technical problems and coordinate their resolution.

You don't need to be the person who designs the entire automation system.

You do need to be the person who can walk up to a problem on the line and think:

What's wrong?
What do we need to fix it?
Who needs to be involved?
What parts or equipment do we need?
And how do we get the line…