Manufacturing Engineer

Job Description

A Division of Wabtec UK Ltd, Northampton-based firm Bearward Engineering manufactures radiators for the power generation industry and is currently recruiting for a Manufacturing Engineer – Health & Safety Project Support.

Position: Manufacturing Engineer

Salary: £Competitive

Location: Northampton, NN4 8HJ

Hours: Monday to Thursday, 08:00am to 16:30pm, and Friday 08:00am to 15:30pm

Contract Type: Permanent, Full-Time

We are looking for a skilled Manufacturing Engineer (Automation) to join our growing team in Northampton. You will be responsible for improving and maintaining manufacturing processes, supporting automation and robotics, and driving continuous improvement across the site.

This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys problem‑solving, working with robotics, and delivering real improvements in safety, quality, and efficiency.

• Maintain and update PFMEAs, Control Plans and Process Instructions.
• Ensure all documents meet regulatory, quality and operational requirements.
• Review processes for safety, cost effectiveness and quality performance.
• Lead structured problem‑solving (5‑Why, Fishbone, DMAIC).
• Deliver lean manufacturing and continuous improvement projects.
• Monitor KPIs and support Team Leaders with improvement actions.
• Develop, optimise, and troubleshoot robotic welding systems.
• Work on robotic cells, PLC‑controlled equipment and automated assembly.
• Support programming, path optimisation and cycle‑time improvement for MIG/TIG robotic welding.
• Identify opportunities to introduce automation to improve safety, quality and productivity.
• Lead new process and equipment introductions following internal change controls.
• Ensure tooling, fixtures, documentation and training are ready for launch.
• Run trials, validations and capability studies.
• Analyse production times, resources and cost requirements.
• Support design and implementation of tooling and fixtures.
• Work with Maintenance on equipment reliability and preventative maintenance.

• Degree in Manufacturing or Engineering preferred or equivalent qualification.
• Experience with PFMEA, A3/Kaizen and Poka‑Yoke.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and production workflows.
• Experience with automation, robotics or robotic welding systems.
• Proficiency with lean tools, kaizen and structured problem‑solving.
• Ability to analyse manufacturing data to support decisions.

If you don’t have all the above criteria, we would still like to hear from you.

Legal authorisation to work in the UK is required. We will not sponsor individuals for employment visas, now or in the future, for this job opening.

We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome talent of all backgrounds, experiences, and identities, including race, gender, age, disability, veteran status and more.

Need accommodation? Just let us know - we’ve got you.