Job Title: R&D Engineering Manager – Advanced machines
Location
: Sheffield, UK (primarily on-site, some flexibility)
Type
: Full-time, Permanent
Salary
: £49,000 - £75,000 per annum
About Fyous
Fyous is building a new class of manufacturing technology — fast, digital, zero-waste, and fundamentally different to anything on the market today. We're looking for an exceptional R&D Engineering Manager to take hands-on ownership of the day-to-day technical delivery of a complex, integrated machine — from active R&D through to a repeatable, production-ready product.
You'll work directly with the founders and Senior Leadership Team, with significant freedom and responsibility to get the machine delivered on time and to a high standard.
Our Culture
At Fyous, culture is not an afterthought – it's a core driver of our success. We're committed to continuously building a better, more resilient, and human-centric working environment. We value openness, learning, and integrity, and we actively invest in helping our team grow not just technically, but personally.
All employees are encouraged to read from a curated library of books that shape how we work, communicate, and resolve conflict. Titles like Radical Candor by Kim Scott help foster a feedback-rich culture where people challenge directly while caring personally. Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers informs our understanding of how environment, practice, and opportunity shape excellence – lessons we apply in how we grow talent and structure work.
This shared intellectual foundation helps align behaviours, encourage thoughtful communication, and support healthier resolution of internal friction. We believe great companies are built from the inside out – and that starts with how we treat each other every day.
Role Responsibilities
As R&D Engineering Manager for Advanced Machines, you will be responsible for the hands-on technical delivery of Fyous' next machine platform. You will own the technical delivery plan, be deeply involved in the workshop executing and unblocking the build and ensure engineering commitments become reality.
You will lead day-to-day technical execution from active R&D through to a robust, repeatable machine ready to ship to customers. You will wear multiple hats: leader, builder, troubleshooter, delivery owner, and technical communicator. You are a born maker and problem-solver who enjoys working at pace, taking accountability, and pushing real hardware through to completion.
You'll be deeply involved in the technical detail, actively building, testing and unblocking progress on the shop floor. But you'll also keep the wider business aligned and informed: own the technical plan, surface risks early, and communicate clear updates so there are no surprises.
This includes:
• Owning the technical delivery plan: milestones, dependencies, sequencing, critical path and decision gates
• Translating project goals into weekly and daily priorities for the engineering team
• Ensuring deadlines are met, despite uncertainty
• Being physically present in the workshop to build, test, troubleshoot and unblock progress
• Running experiments, diagnosing failures and rapidly improving designs
• Scaling designs from prototype to production-ready hardware
• Managing technical risks, blockers and mitigations
• Running practical design/build reviews to ensure solutions are robust, testable and manufacturable
• Owning technical test planning and execution to validate design maturity and performance
• Working with the commercial team, and customers, to ensure their requirements are translated into deliverable technical requirements
• Monitoring progress and reporting clearly to the Senior Leadership Team
• Maintaining technical clarity and decision readiness: options, impact and recommended actions
• Supporting supplier engagement where required (RFQs, build support, technical decisions)
• Capturing lessons learned and driving continuous improvement across delivery and build quality
• Coaching engineers through hands-on problem solving, practical reviews and structured thinking
• Setting expectations for what "good" looks like in build quality, testing discipline and communication
• Giving clear feedback to raise the bar in engineering
This role spans hands-on engineering, delivery ownership, systems thinking and execution. You will be expected to operate comfortably across disciplines and take full ownership of outcomes.
Ideal Candidate Profile
We're looking for a pragmatic, hands-on engineer with enough technical depth to own the plan and the truth — someone who is happiest in the workshop building, testing and solving problems, but who can also communicate clearly to senior leadership. You don't need to have direct line management experience, but you must be a highly competent leader.
Essential Skills & Experience
• Strong hands-on experience building and delivering complex machines, prototypes or integrated hardware systems
• Proven ability to own technical delivery: milestones, dependencies, critical path and execution priorities
• Ability to drive delivery discipline and accountability in an R&D environment with unknowns
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals (mechanisms, tolerances, materials, interfaces)
• Practical experience integrating mechanical systems with electrical, sensors, actuators and software-controlled systems
• Strong practical problem-solving ability grounded in data, evidence and real-world testing
• Experience running experiments, diagnosing failures and rapidly iterating designs/builds
• Experience driving design/build reviews, sign-off and technical decision-making
• Ability to communicate clearly to senior stakeholders: progress, blockers, risks, trade-offs and decisions required
• A strong bias toward practical, on-site engineering and workshop execution
• High ownership, sound judgement and a track record of shipping real hardware
• Experience of leading Engineering teams
Role Fit (you'll thrive here if you…)
• Prefer being hands-on in the workshop, building, testing and iterating — not managing from behind a desk
• Enjoy being accountable for delivery outcomes, not just contributing tasks
• Thrive in fast-moving environments where priorities shift and execution matters more than process
• Are comfortable making and communicating tough trade-offs early (scope, schedule, resources)
• Naturally surface risks early, communicate clearly, and don't wait for problems to become emergencies
• Work well in small teams where you need to move fast, take ownership, and drive momentum
• Have shipped complex machines or integrated hardware systems into the real world and take pride in that
Nice to have
• Experience in regulated or safety-critical environments (Machine Directive, UKCA/CE, medical-adjacent)
• Experience scaling from prototype to low–medium volume production (~500 units/year)
• Familiarity with systems engineering, requirements management and risk management
• Experience with FMEA, tolerance stacks, verification/validation thinking
• Practical knowledge of CAD, BOM control, engineering change and supplier technical decision-making
Compensation & Benefits
• Salary: £49,000 – £75,000 depending on experience.
• Equity: All employees receive equity.
• Private Healthcare: Full coverage provided.
• Product Perks: Discounted Mous products.
• Development Support: Training and growth encouraged.
Application Process
To apply, email your CV and a short cover letter to:
Process:
• Initial call
• Technical challenge
• On-site interview
• Final interview
We're ready to hire immediately but are happy to wait for the right candidate.
Join us in rethinking how things are made.