Manufacturing Engineering Manager - Structure

🔒 Confidential Employer

Posted 20 April 2026

LOCATION

Woking

TYPE

Full-time

LEVEL

Mid-Senior level

SKILLS

Strategic Planning Factory Layout Project Management Cross-Functional Collaboration Continuous Improvement Leadership Manufacturing Processes Data Analysis

FULL DESCRIPTION

Reporting to the Head of Manufacturing Engineering, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining the long‑term manufacturing structure plan, ensuring that facility layouts, production flows, and capacity strategies support business growth, product development, and operational excellence. This role provides leadership in translating engineering requirements and business forecasts into robust factory structures, layouts, and capacity models. Additionally, this team will own tooling design and realisation.

Key responsibilities will include:

HS&E, legal and regulatory requirements (including fixed equipment and machinery)
Strategy & Capacity Planning
Manufacturing Footprint & Industrialisation
Programme & Project Delivery
Equipment Handover protocol
Investment Planning
Cross‑Functional Leadership Interface
Resource management
Cost Management

Quality assurance ISO-9001 / IATF 16949.

What You'll Do

Strategic Structure & Capacity Planning

Develop long-term structure plans aligned with product roadmaps, engineering changes, and business forecasts.
Assess future production capacity requirements and define equipment, layout, and collaborate on headcount requirements.
Lead scenario planning to identify structural bottlenecks and investment priorities.

Factory Layout & Industrialisation

Design and optimise factory layouts, production lines, workstations, and material flow.
Support new product introductions (NPI) by ensuring structural readiness for new processes and equipment.
Plan and manage facility expansions, relocations, and major line reconfigurations.
Maintain approved layout drawings, structure plans, and capacity models within formal governance processes.
Ensure compliance with safety, quality, and regulatory standards.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Act as the central interface between Manufacturing Engineering and all process partners, including senior management.
Translate engineering changes into structural impacts and communicate required actions into relevant launch team
Facilitate cross-functional structure planning reviews and ensure aligned decision-making.

Project & Programme Delivery

Lead structure-related elements of major programmes, including line installations, layout changes, and facility upgrades.
Manage project plans, risks, deliverables, and capital requirements.
Provide regular status reporting to stakeholders, including senior leadership.

Continuous Improvement & Performance Analysis

Identify opportunities to improve production flow, ergonomics, takt time adherence, and overall factory efficiency.
Analyse capacity utilisation, OEE, and bottleneck data to inform structural changes.
Support continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Kaizen.

Financial & Investment Planning

Develop and maintain the capital expenditure (CAPEX) roadmap relating to layout, tooling, and structural improvements.
Produce cost-benefit analyses and ROI assessments for structural projects.
Partner with Finance to ensure full alignment with budget cycles and strategic plans.

Leadership & Team Development

Line-manage structure planning specialists, layout engineers, and project staff (as applicable).
Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence.
Support succession planning and capability development within the Manufacturing Engineering function.

What You'll Bring

Live the [Employer hidden — view at passion-project.co.uk] values.

Strategic thinking and long-term planning
Strong analytical and problem-solving ability
Leadership and team development
Cross-functional collaboration
Technical expertise in manufacturing processes
Excellent communication and presentation skills
Highly motivated, resilient, and agile.
Data driven and process focused.
Dynamic, with the ability to respond to challenging situations in an innovative manner.

What We'll Do for You

We offer a wide – ranging benefits package, which includes:

Structured career development framework
25 days’ holiday, plus bank holiday. Annual buy & sell up to five days
Enhanced company pension scheme
Discretionary annual bonus award
Private medical insurance and health cash plan
Life assurance benefit
Ability to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years’ service
Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
Generous parental leave policies
A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice