Senior Powertrain Manufacturing Engineer

Job Title Senior Powertrain Manufacturing Engineer Ref #59056

Date posted

Friday, May 8, 2026

Country United Kingdom Location Woking Business  area

Manufacturing Department Manufacturing  Engineering Position level5 - Supervisory / Professional - (L-16)
Working time

Full Time Contract type

Permanent

Working pattern9am - 6pm Monday to Friday

SalaryN/AWhat to Expect The Senior Manufacturing Engineer is accountable for the end-to-end definition, delivery, and continuous evolution of advanced assembly manufacturing systems for a low-volume, high-value powertrain facility.

This role provides technical leadership and strategic direction across manufacturing engineering, ensuring product designs are translated into world-class, scalable, and digitally enabled production systems that achieve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and sustainability targets across the full product lifecycle.

Operating at a systems level, the role shapes plant architecture, automation strategy, and industrialisation roadmaps, while leading cross-functional integration from early concept through launch and into operational excellence.

What You'll Do Manufacturing System Strategy & Architecture
• Own and define the end-to-end manufacturing system architecture, including process design, automation strategy, plant layout, and digital integration.
• Develop and govern long-term manufacturing strategies, ensuring scalability, flexibility, and alignment with future product and technology roadmaps.
• Lead development of line concepts, takt strategies, capacity models, and industrialisation plans.
• Drive design-for-manufacture and design-for-assembly (DfM/DfA) at programme level, influencing product architecture decisions.
• Champion implementation of advanced Lean Production Systems and continuous improvement frameworks.
• Define and lead integration of MES, digital twins, and Industry 4.0 technologies to enable traceability, analytics, and real-time control.

Technical Leadership – Tooling, Equipment & Automation
• Provide technical authority and governance over tooling, equipment, and automation strategy.
• Lead specification, selection, and validation of complex automated systems and precision assembly technologies.
• Establish and manage strategic supplier partnerships, including integrators and equipment vendors.
• Oversee design reviews, FAT/SAT readiness, and technical risk mitigation.
• Drive innovation in automation, robotics, and smart manufacturing solutions to enhance capability and competitiveness.
• Ensure all systems are designed for reliability, maintainability, and lifecycle cost optimisation.

Quality, Process Robustness & Compliance
• Lead deployment of quality-by-design principles across manufacturing systems.
• Own and govern PFMEA, control plans, and error-proofing strategies at system level.
• Ensure robust implementation of traceability, torque control, leak testing, cleanliness, and end-of-line validation systems.
• Drive achievement of first-time-through, warranty, and reliability targets.
• Establish change management governance for product and process evolution.
• Utilise digital manufacturing and simulation tools to validate processes prior to implementation.

Programme Delivery & Launch Excellence
• Lead manufacturing engineering delivery through concept, industrialisation, installation, commissioning, and ramp-up.
• Provide senior technical leadership during launch, ensuring rapid issue resolution and risk mitigation.
• Oversee pilot builds, run-at-rate validation, and production readiness.
• Ensure achievement of takt, yield, safety, and cost targets within programme timelines.
• Act as a key decision-maker in high-pressure launch environments.

Leadership, Governance & Capability Development
• Provide technical and functional leadership to manufacturing engineering teams across process, tooling, and industrial engineering disciplines.
• Establish and enforce engineering standards, best practices, and governance frameworks.
• Mentor and develop engineers, building organisational capability and succession strength.
• Lead implementation of structured problem-solving methodologies (e.g., root cause analysis, Six Sigma approaches).
• Champion…