Manufacturing Engineer
12 Month Fixed-Term Contract
Southampton, Hampshire
An established high-tech manufacturing business based in Southampton is seeking a Manufacturing Engineer to join their Operations Engineering team on a 12-month fixed-term contract.
The company designs and manufactures advanced laser technology used across a wide range of industrial applications worldwide. With new products being introduced at pace, this role will play a key part in supporting manufacturing capability, improving processes and ensuring successful product introduction into production.
This is a hands-on engineering role, working closely with production, engineering and NPI teams to optimise manufacturing processes, drive continuous improvement and support operational performance.
The role is approximately 50% cleanroom based, so experience or comfort working within controlled environments would be beneficial.
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The Role
You will be responsible for delivering improvements across manufacturing processes, supporting operational teams and ensuring efficient and safe manufacturing practices.
Key responsibilities will include:
• Providing manufacturing engineering support to production and operations teams
• Driving continuous improvement activities focusing on quality, cost, and cycle time reduction
• Implementing lean manufacturing techniques and structured problem solving methods
• Designing and improving manufacturing cell layouts and production flow
• Creating and maintaining Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and manufacturing documentation
• Supporting the introduction of new technologies and product lines into production
• Analysing manufacturing data to identify improvement opportunities
• Supporting NPI teams to ensure designs are manufacturable and production-ready
• Leading improvement initiatives across manufacturing cells
• Conducting risk assessments for new equipment, processes and procedures
• Investigating and resolving manufacturing non-conformances
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Experience Required
Essential:
• 3–5 years’ experience within a Manufacturing Engineering role
• Experience with lean manufacturing tools such as value stream mapping and structured problem solving (A3, 8D, DMAIC)
• Experience analysing manufacturing data and identifying improvement opportunities
• Experience creating work instructions, SOPs or standard work documentation
• Strong Excel and general IT skills
• Good understanding of health & safety within manufacturing environments
• Experience implementing 5S
Desirable:
• Experience working in a cleanroom or controlled environment
• Fine mechanical or precision assembly experience
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• Knowledge of OEE, capacity planning or takt-based production flow
• Experience with TPM or Gage R&R
• Optical fibre handling or fusion/splicing experience
• Basic SQL knowledge
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Qualifications
• Degree qualified in an engineering discipline, or equivalent experience.
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Personal Profile
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail
• Proactive and naturally curious, always looking for ways to improve processes
• Strong structured problem-solving ability
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving manufacturing environment
• Able to communicate effectively across engineering, operations and production teams
• Adaptable and able to manage multiple priorities