Production Engineer Team Leader

Abingdon, Oxfordshire PDQ Engineering Recruitment & Training Services Lt The Opportunity This is an exciting time to join an established and internationally respected medical device company with a long history of developing and producing highly regarded medical equipment. Now part of a larger international medical technology group, the business is entering an important period of investment, new product introduction and production development. Alongside the continued production and evolution of the products for which the company is renowned, the business is preparing for the introduction of next-generation and entirely new products, creating significant opportunities to develop the production operation in Abingdon. As Production Engineering Team Lead, you will be at the centre of this change. This is not simply a role focused on maintaining today’s production environment. We are looking for someone who can help define how tomorrow’s products will be produced – developing existing production processes, introducing new methods and technologies, establishing and improving production lines, and ensuring that new products move successfully from development into efficient, repeatable and high-quality production. The successful individual will inherit an experienced Production Engineering team and an established production environment. The challenge will be to preserve what works well while identifying where things can be done differently and better. We are therefore looking for a creatively minded and practically orientated engineering leader: someone who is comfortable challenging existing methods, evaluating new tools and technologies, and turning ideas into sustainable improvements in quality, productivity, cost, capacity and production performance. Overall Purpose of the Role To lead and develop the Production Engineering team, managing its workload, priorities and technical resources while providing effective engineering support across the wider production operation. The Production Engineering Team Lead will work closely with Production, NPD, Quality & Regulatory, Purchasing/Sourcing and other functions to support existing products while playing a key role in the industrialisation and introduction of new products into the Abingdon production facility. The position will combine hands-on engineering leadership with longer-term responsibility for improving production capability, processes and methods. A central objective will be to ensure that Production Engineering is not simply responding to today’s production problems, but is actively preparing the business for future products, increased production requirements and continued growth. Key Responsibilities Lead the day-to-day activities of the Production Engineering department and directly manage a team of five Production Engineers. Establish clear priorities, objectives and workloads for the team, balancing immediate production requirements with longer-term engineering and improvement projects. Work closely with the Production department to resolve day-to-day issues and minimise disruption to output. Provide engineering leadership for the introduction of new products into production, working closely with NPD from the development stage through industrialisation, validation, production launch and subsequent volume production. Support the creation, modification and optimisation of production lines for both new and existing products, considering quality, ergonomics, workflow, capacity, efficiency, cost and scalability. Review existing production methods and identify opportunities to introduce new processes, tooling, equipment, automation and production technologies where these can improve quality, productivity or cost. Champion a culture of continuous improvement, using appropriate Lean Manufacturing, problem-solving and process-improvement techniques to identify and eliminate waste and improve production performance. Review and investigate rejected parts, assemblies and production failures, establishing root causes and implementing robust corrective actions. Support production change control and associated software/system testing. Develop and support cost-down and value-improvement initiatives across existing products and production processes without compromising product quality or regulatory compliance. Develop and support test protocols and the validation of new or modified parts, assemblies, production equipment and processes. Work closely with Purchasing and Sourcing on the evaluation and approval of new and revised components and samples. Support the qualification and validation of new suppliers, processes and products, including visits to supplier facilities where appropriate. Provide engineering support throughout the lifecycle of established products, including component obsolescence, supplier changes, quality variation, test issues and opportunities for functional or production improvement. Work collaboratively with Quality & Regulatory on complaint investigations, root-cause analysis, CAPA activity and the implementation of sustainable corrective and preventative actions. Develop appropriate production strategies for new product introductions, considering tooling, fixtures, test equipment, process capability, production layout, documentation, training and capacity requirements. Identify opportunities to improve the use of production data, systems and engineering tools to support better decision-making and performance. Ensure that production processes are robust, repeatable and capable of delivering the required standards of product quality and output. Develop effective relationships across Engineering, NPD, Production, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain and Purchasing, ensuring Production Engineering is involved early enough to influence product and process decisions. Leadership & Team Development A key part of the position is the leadership and development of the Production Engineering team. You will be expected to: * Coach, mentor and develop the five Production Engineers, identifying individual development needs and opportunities to broaden technical capability. * Create an environment in which engineers are encouraged to question existing processes, propose improvements and take ownership of engineering problems. * Develop the capability of the department so that it can successfully support both the established product portfolio and the next generation of products entering production. * Establish clear priorities and accountability while encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing. * Build strong relationships with the wider production workforce, including assembly, calibration, test and quality personnel. What We Are Looking For We are interested in an engineer who combines strong production engineering knowledge with leadership ability and an improvement mindset. You are likely to have: * A Degree, HNC or equivalent qualification in Mechanical, Production, Manufacturing, Electronics or another relevant engineering discipline. * At least five years’ experience within a design, production or engineering environment. * Experience of leading, supervising or developing engineers within a production environment. * Strong practical understanding of production processes, Production Engineering and the introduction or improvement of production equipment, tooling and processes. * Experience of New Product Introduction (NPI/NPD) and industrialisation, ideally taking products from engineering development through validation and into production. * Demonstrable experience of continuous improvement, Lean Manufacturing, root-cause analysis and structured problem solving. * An ability to examine an established production process objectively – recognising what should be retained while identifying where technology, process or working practices could be improved. * Strong analytical a