The Vacancy
HTRC Tooling Engineer (30‑Month FTC)
Location:
Coventry (HTRC, Ansty)
Department:
High Temperature Research Centre
Contract:
30‑month Fixed Term
Are you passionate about advanced manufacturing, cutting‑edge research, and shaping the future of turbine component technology? The High Temperature Research Centre (HTRC) is looking for a
Tooling Engineer
to join our world‑class team for an exciting 30‑month fixed‑term project.
This is a unique opportunity to work within a collaboration between the
University of Birmingham
and
Rolls‑Royce
, equipped with state‑of‑the‑art technology for investment casting, machining, and metrology of single crystal turbine components.
About The Role
As an HTRC Tooling Engineer, you'll play a key role in developing, designing, and specifying tooling that supports both investment casting and machining processes. Working as part of a co‑located design and manufacturing engineering team, you'll collaborate closely with researchers, designers, operations teams, and external partners.
You will support both manufacturing engineering and process engineering tasks—while developing advanced tooling solutions that underpin next‑generation turbine manufacturing capabilities.
What You'll Be Doing
* Designing and specifying tooling, fixtures, and modelling solutions for investment casting and machining.
* Developing machining methods and supporting manufacturing process improvement activities.
* Working with designers, toolmakers, and CA teams to deliver tooling hardware and modelling activity on time.
* Supporting Capability Acquisition Reviews, technical packages, and technology updates.
* Providing regular progress updates to key stakeholders.
* Helping build capability for producing small, complex parts with novel geometries.
* Driving innovation and contributing to world‑leading research in single‑crystal casting and machining.
What We're Looking For
Essential:
* Degree qualified (or equivalent experience) in a relevant engineering discipline.
* Strong understanding of manufacturing engineering principles.
* Knowledge of turbine components OR investment casting OR machining processes.
* Understanding of investment casting tooling design (e.g., wax pattern dies).
* Strong skills in problem solving, programme management, risk management, and technical communication.
Desirable experience:
* Working in research or advanced manufacturing environments.
* Design for Manufacture (DfM) and working directly with customers to optimise component design.
* CAD experience for tooling, jigs, and fixtures.
* CAM and CNC machining knowledge.
* Managing experiments and process capability development.
* Developing inspection requirements and resolving non‑conformance issues.
* Creating methods of manufacture and technical documentation.
* Benchmarking external capability and supporting continuous improvement.
* Developing and coaching technicians.
About The MTC
The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is an internationally renowned and respected research and development organisation, bridging the gap between academia and manufacturing, and is home to some of the brightest minds in engineering from around the globe.
The MTC's engineers, scientists and technicians work with some of the most advanced manufacturing equipment in the world in a supportive and collegiate environment for the development and demonstration of new technologies on an industrial scale, helping manufacturers of all sizes develop new and innovative processes and technologies.
Established to prove cutting edge manufacturing advances in an agile environment in partnership with industry, academia and other institutions, the MTC works with hundreds of industrial clients across a range of sectors including automotive, aerospace, rail, informatics, food and drink, infrastructure, construction and civil engineering, electronics, oil and gas and defence. The MTC helps businesses thrive by advancing their technological and engineering capabilities to improve their business efficiency, capability and competitiveness.
Supported by one of the largest public sector investments in UK Manufacturing, the MTC's engineering capabilities cover research and development, advanced manufacturing management, factory design and training for the skills of the future.
The MTC has world-class facilities in Coventry, Liverpool and Oxford, and is part of the UK's High Value Manufacturing Catapult, supported by Innovate UK.
Reference Checks and Security Checks (where applicable)
Due to the nature of our business, all employment is subject to satisfactory references being obtained alongside a level of security clearance checks.