Technical Director

• Are you looking for Technical Director jobs or Engineering Director jobs in Bicester, Oxford, Banbury, Aylesbury, Buckingham or across Oxfordshire? Engineering, manufacturing, mechanical engineering and technical leadership jobs.
• Technical Director jobs role with an established, specialist mechanical engineering business supplying OEM and Tier 1 customers across automotive, EV, medical, aerospace and wider regulated manufacturing sectors
• Genuine opportunity to build and lead a dedicated Technical function, bringing together R&D, NPI, Applications Engineering, Quality Engineering and Laboratory capabilities.
• The business invests heavily in new plant and R&D projects
• Technical Director jobs role – we would also consider experienced Technical Managers, Engineering Managers or senior technical leaders looking to step up into a Director-level position.

A senior leadership role reporting to the MD, with real influence over technical strategy, product quality, process standards and future innovation.

We are working with an established and growing specialist engineering and mechanical manufacturing business based near Bicester, Oxfordshire, which is now looking to appoint a Technical Director as part of its next stage of development.

The business has built its reputation on technical excellence, precision and innovation, supplying customers across demanding engineering sectors including automotive, EV, medical, aerospace and wider mechanical manufacturing sectors. This is not a traditional Technical Director role where you simply inherit an established department and keep things ticking over.

The technical expertise (and subject matter expertise) is already there, but some of the systems, standards and processes behind it have not kept pace with the business's ambitions. The Technical Director jobs role opportunity is to come in and build that structure, raise standards and turn technical capability into a consistent competitive advantage.

• Reporting directly to the Managing Director, you will become a key member of the senior leadership team, sharing responsibility for technical strategy and the overall technical integrity of the business. The immediate priority is to build and lead a dedicated Technical function, bringing greater structure, accountability and consistency to the way technical work is managed and delivered.
• The role will cover areas including R&D, New Product Introduction (NPI), Applications Engineering, Quality Engineering and Laboratory activities.
• There is a genuine opportunity to influence:
• Building and developing the Technical Department
• Technical strategy, standards and process improvement
• Product compliance, quality and root-cause investigation
• NPI, applications engineering and new customer projects
• R&D, innovation and process development
• Documenting and embedding technical knowledge across the business
• Project management of Capex and technical improvement projects
• Technical reporting, accountability and business-wide standards
• Supporting Commercial by ensuring technical capability translates into genuine customer value

We are looking for a technically credible, hands-on leader who can build a function, raise standards and bring people with them.

You may have come from a specialist manufacturing, engineering, surface treatment, coatings, aerospace, automotive or another technically demanding environment.

• Experience leading a technical, engineering, quality or manufacturing-related function
• The ability to build a department, establish clear responsibilities and develop a team
• A strong focus on quality, product compliance, standards and process discipline
• Experience improving processes, investigating root causes and implementing lasting solutions
• An understanding of NPI, process development, R&D or applications engineering
• The ability to turn specialist knowledge into documented processes, standards and training
• Strong project management skills, ideally including capital equipment or technical improvement projects
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of how technical capability supports customer relationships and profitability
• The confidence to challenge existing ways of working, influence the senior team and gain buy-in across Operations and the wider business
• You will need the technical credibility to earn respect, but also the leadership skills and personality to…