Senior Process Engineer

Senior Process Engineer

Location: Plymouth
Salary: £44,000 - £49,000 (depending on experience)
Contract: Permanent | Full-time (39 hours, Monday-Friday)

Butler Rose is proud to be partnering with an established and highly respected manufacturing business based in Plymouth, recruiting an experienced Senior Process Engineer to support continued growth and operational excellence within its sheet metal manufacturing operations.

This is a key engineering role offering real influence across new product introduction, process optimisation, and day-to-day production support within a technically advanced, high-volume manufacturing environment.

As Senior Process Engineer, you will take ownership of critical manufacturing processes within the sheet metal area, ensuring new products, equipment and improvements are delivered to world‑class standards.

You’ll work across NPI, continuous improvement initiatives and live production support, playing a central role in driving performance, capability and efficiency while helping to embed a strong continuous improvement culture across the factory.

This role would suit a proactive, technically strong engineer who enjoys solving problems, leading improvement projects and influencing stakeholders at all levels.

• Take full ownership of defined manufacturing processes within the sheet metal department
• Lead successful introduction of new products and equipment, ensuring capability and quality targets are met
• Deliver engineering projects on time, within budget and in line with health & safety and quality standards
• Provide hands‑on production support to optimise tooling, equipment utilisation and material flow

• Act as a role model, demonstrating professionalism, accountability and high engineering standards
• Support and coach junior engineers and team members
• Promote a strong culture of safety, quality and continuous improvement

• Drive process optimisation using lean principles and structured problem‑solving techniques
• Troubleshoot technical issues to reduce waste and improve quality and throughput
• Maintain high standards across standard work, PFMEAs, layouts, line balancing and process capability

• Collaborate closely with Engineering, Quality, Maintenance, Production and Supply Chain teams
• Contribute technical insight during NPI and design review activities
• Participate in root cause analysis, improvement workshops and problem‑solving activities

We welcome applications from a wide range of backgrounds. To be successful, you are likely to demonstrate:

• HNC Level 4 or above in Manufacturing or Mechanical Engineering
• Degree in Industrial Engineering and/or Lean Six Sigma certification (desirable)
• At least 5 years' experience in a senior or lead engineering role within manufacturing
• Strong experience of sheet metal processes, including jig design and welding/weld jigs
• Proven track record in delivering manufacturing projects, layout redesigns and process improvements
• Experience working with contractors, supplier negotiation and equipment procurement

• Manufacturing systems, process engineering and project management
• CAD and planning software
• Lean manufacturing, TPM, OEE, automation and smart manufacturing
• Equipment validation and machine safety standards
• Root cause analysis and data‑driven decision making
• Strong communication, stakeholder management and leadership skills
• Strategic planning, budgeting and change management

• Salary of £44,000 - £49,000, depending on experience
• Company‑wide bonus
• 33 days annual leave including bank holidays, plus holiday purchase scheme
• Life assurance (3x salary)
• Pension contributions matched up to 5%
• Health and wellbeing benefits
• Access to employee savings and discount platforms

Butler Rose is committed to equality in the workplace and is an equal opportunity employer. Butler Rose Ltd is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.