Manufacturing Engineer
Location: Luton
Contract: 12 month contract
Rate: £40 per hour (inside IR35)
Security clearance: Active SC clearance required
Working pattern: 4-5 days on site
THE ROLE
We are recruiting on behalf of a leading defence engineering organisation looking to appoint an experienced Manufacturing Engineer to support their Manufacturing Engineering Team within Manufacturing Operations.
This role will focus on supporting the transition of new products from design into manufacture, ensuring efficient, cost‑effective and high‑quality production readiness across complex engineering programmes.
This is an excellent opportunity to work within a highly advanced defence environment supporting NPI, process improvement and shopfloor manufacturing engineering activities on technically complex products.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
* Develop and improve manufacturing processes by analysing product requirements and defining manufacturing methods
* Provide Design for Excellence (DfX) input including Design for Manufacture, Assembly and Test activities
* Support New Product Introduction (NPI) activities from prototype through to production
* Collaborate with operators, suppliers and equipment vendors to optimise manufacturing solutions
* Support Manufacturing Maturity Reviews and lifecycle governance activities
* Develop and maintain manufacturing plans and process documentation
* Provide manufacturing data to support production planning, labour analysis and forecasting activities
* Produce process reports and analyse manufacturing trends and performance data
* Develop work instructions and support manufacturing training activities
* Resolve shopfloor production issues, bottlenecks and escalations to minimise operational disruption
* Drive continuous improvement initiatives including capacity analysis, workflow optimisation and process improvement projects
* Support layout optimisation and manufacturing efficiency improvements
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
* Proven experience within a Manufacturing Engineer role
* Background within defence, aerospace or high‑reliability engineering environments
* Strong understanding of manufacturing engineering principles and production processes
* Experience supporting NPI and product transition into manufacture
* Good understanding of DfX principles including manufacture, assembly and test
* Strong analytical and problem‑solving capability
* Comfortable operating within fast‑paced shopfloor manufacturing environments
* Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
* Active SC clearance essential
* Sole British National required
DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE
* Manufacturing readiness reviews
* Continuous improvement and lean manufacturing
* Capacity analysis and workflow simulation
* Production planning and process optimisation
* High‑complexity electromechanical or defence products
WHY APPLY?
This is an opportunity to work within a highly advanced defence manufacturing environment supporting critical engineering programmes and complex manufacturing operations. You'll be joining a business at the forefront of defence technology, working alongside experienced engineering and manufacturing teams on long‑term, technically challenging projects.
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