Operations Engineering Team Leader - Manufacturing

Operations Engineering Team Leader – Manufacturing
Location: Hedge End, Southampton
Salary: Circa £50,000–£55,000
Type: Permanent

We’re recruiting for an Operations Engineering Team Leader to join a high-precision manufacturing environment in Hedge End, Southampton.
This is a hands-on leadership role, responsible for leading a small team of around 5–6 engineers while remaining technically involved in the day-to-day engineering support of production.
The role would suit a Senior or Lead Manufacturing Engineer looking to take their first step into formal people leadership, as well as an experienced engineering leader who enjoys staying close to the technical detail.

The Role
You’ll lead the engineering support function for production, ensuring issues are identified and resolved quickly while driving improvements across quality, yield, efficiency and manufacturing processes.
It’s roughly a 50/50 split between leadership and technical delivery, so this is not a role for someone looking to move entirely away from the engineering detail.

Key responsibilities will include:
• Day-to-day leadership and management of a team of 5–6 engineers
• Providing engineering support to production and resolving technical issues
• Leading problem solving and root cause analysis
• Driving continuous improvement and Lean Manufacturing initiatives
• Identifying opportunities to reduce scrap and improve production yield
• Supporting high-precision mechanical assembly processes
• Working within a clean room manufacturing environment and maintaining exceptionally high assembly standards
• Supporting production team meetings and providing a strong engineering presence
• Reviewing and improving manufacturing processes, with a focus on quality, repeatability and efficiency
• Supporting FMEA activity and risk-based problem solving
• Ensuring the quality and suitability of materials used within the manufacturing process
• Coaching, mentoring and developing team members
• Allocating work, managing priorities and ensuring engineering tasks are delivered effectively
• Acting as a technical lead within a busy, high-pressure production environment

About You
We’re looking for someone with a strong manufacturing or production engineering background, who is comfortable getting into the detail and solving problems rather than simply managing from a distance.

You could be:
• A Senior Manufacturing Engineer or Lead Manufacturing Engineer ready to move into your first formal leadership role
• An experienced Engineering Team Leader or Manager who remains technically hands-on
• A manufacturing engineer who has already had some responsibility for coaching, mentoring or informally leading others

You’ll ideally bring experience of:
• Manufacturing or production engineering
• Leading, coaching or mentoring engineers or technical teams
• Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement
• Root cause analysis and structured problem solving
• Yield improvement and scrap reduction
• FMEA and quality-focused engineering
• High-precision mechanical assembly or similarly detailed manufacturing environments
• Working to very high standards of quality and process control

You’ll need to be comfortable working in a high-pressure production environment, able to prioritise effectively and confident making decisions when technical issues arise.

Just as importantly, you’ll be someone who is willing to learn, gets involved and enjoys understanding how things are built. The products involve high-precision, fine mechanical assembly, so attention to detail and an appreciation of quality are essential.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who wants to combine their technical manufacturing engineering experience with genuine people leadership, without losing the hands-on element of the role.