Project Engineer
Location: Peterborough | Full-time, Permanent | Up to £60k depending on experience
You own the project. From first build at OAL to a system running in production at a customer site.
This is a senior engineering role. You are responsible for delivering complete automation and robotics projects: pre-building and testing systems at OAL's Peterborough facility, deploying them at customer sites across the UK, and making sure they work reliably in live production.
You are the lead engineer on your projects. You manage the technical delivery, coordinate the engineering team around you, act as the primary point of contact for the customer on site, and take ownership of the outcome. If a system is running well in a food factory six months after handover, that is your project.
You will work across machine vision, PLC controls, industrial robotics and SCADA systems. You will manage project budgets and timelines. You will need to make technical decisions under pressure and communicate clearly with both engineers and factory operations teams.
If you have five or more years of experience delivering automation or systems integration projects and you want to own the full lifecycle rather than just a piece of it, this role is built for that.
What this role actually looks like
Every project follows a cycle: design, pre-build and test at OAL, site installation, live commissioning, go-live support and customer handover.
As Project Engineer, you are responsible for the full delivery. Your work starts during the design phase and does not finish until the customer is running the system independently.
At OAL's Peterborough facility, you oversee the pre-build and testing of systems before they leave the building. You work with commissioning engineers, installation engineers and software engineers to assemble, wire, program and prove equipment in a controlled environment. You make sure the system meets specification and is ready for site before it ships.
At customer sites across the UK, you lead the installation, commissioning and go-live. You are the primary point of contact for the customer's technical and operations teams. You manage the on-site engineering work, resolve issues as they come up, coordinate with OAL's Peterborough base when needed, and make sure the system is handed over properly with documentation and training complete.
Day to day, you are responsible for:
* Leading the technical delivery of automation and robotics projects from pre-build through to customer handover
* Overseeing pre-build, assembly and testing of systems at OAL's Peterborough facility
* Managing on-site installation, commissioning and go-live at customer factories
* Acting as the primary engineering contact for customers during project delivery
* Coordinating the work of commissioning engineers, installation engineers and software engineers on your projects
* Managing project budgets and timelines, keeping delivery on track
* Diagnosing and resolving technical issues, both during pre-build and on site
* Producing and maintaining project documentation for OAL and customer records
* Providing training to customer teams on systems and applications
* Driving continuous improvement by feeding back design and process lessons from each project
A typical week depends on where your projects are in the cycle. During pre-build phases, you will be at OAL's Peterborough base coordinating the build and running tests. During deployment phases, you will be at customer sites leading the installation and go-live. Between projects, you will be involved in design reviews and preparation for the next delivery.
Your skills probably already fit
This role suits experienced engineers who have delivered automation projects end to end. If you have led installations, managed customer relationships on site and taken ownership of technical outcomes, you already have the core of what we need.
Relevant technical experience includes:
* Machine vision: camera systems, inspection, verification
* PLC and industrial controls: programming, commissioning, fault-finding
* Robotics: industrial robots, safety systems, cell integration
* SCADA and HMI: Ignition, or similar platforms
* Systems integration: getting multiple technologies to work together reliably on a production line
* Industrial networking: Ethernet/IP, PROFINET, fieldbus protocols
Engineers who do well in this role at OAL have typically come from systems integrators, automation suppliers, machine builders, robotics companies, or manufacturing engineering roles where they owned the delivery of capital projects.
You do not need food manufacturing experience. The engineering is transferable. You will learn the specifics of food production environments during project delivery.
What you should expect from us, and what we expect from you
We will be direct about this, because it helps both sides.
You own the delivery. This is not a role where you follow someone else's plan. You are accountable for the technical outcome of your projects, from pre-build quality through to customer satisfaction after handover.
The work is hands-on, both at OAL and on site. You will spend time in OAL's workshop overseeing pre-builds and time at customer factories leading deployments. These are real production environments: chilled, ambient, high-care.
Travel is part of the role. Customer sites are across the UK. Deployment phases require time on site, including overnight stays. We ask for flexibility around this, and we are realistic about planning it. The split between Peterborough and customer sites shifts through the year depending on the project pipeline.
You will manage people and priorities. You coordinate the engineers working on your projects. You manage budgets and timelines. You make decisions when things do not go to plan.
Go-live periods are pressurised. When a production line is scheduled to start, the system has to work. You will need to lead calmly and effectively when timelines are tight and the customer is watching.
Standards are high. OAL delivers automation systems that run 24/7. The projects you deliver have to be reliable, documented and supportable long after handover.
In return, you get:
* Full ownership of projects from workshop to live production
* Variety across different customers, sites and technologies
* Exposure to the complete automation stack: vision, robotics, controls, SCADA, software
* Progression based on what you deliver, not how long you have been here
What we are looking for
* Degree or equivalent qualification in engineering, IT or a related discipline
* Five or more years of hands-on experience delivering automation or systems integration projects
* Proven ability to lead project delivery and manage customer relationships on site
* Comfortable working with PLC systems, Windows environments, networking and SQL databases
* Strong fault-finding and troubleshooting ability across multiple technologies
* Able to manage project budgets and timelines
* Clear communicator who can work effectively with engineers, factory operations staff and senior customer stakeholders
* Full UK driving licence
* Willing to travel and stay away from home when projects require it
Experience in food manufacturing is not required. If you have the project delivery and engineering skills, we will help you apply them in this sector.
The mission you are contributing to
OAL automates UK food manufacturing. Food factories face labour shortages, tightening compliance requirements and pressure on costs. The projects you deliver directly address those problems.
You will deliver packaging verification systems that prevent product recalls, robotic cells that replace repetitive manual work, and vision systems that catch errors human inspection cannot sustain. These systems run on live production lines across the UK. You will build them at OAL, deploy them at customer sites, and see them operating in the factories long after handover