Operations Engineering Team Leader - Manufacturing

Operations Engineering Team Leader Manufacturing Location: Hedge End, Southampton Salary: Circa £50,000£55,000 Type: Permanent Were 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 56 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 Youll lead the engineering support function for production, ensuring issues are identified and resolved quickly while driving improvements across quality, yield, efficiency and manufacturing processes. Its 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 56 engineersProviding engineering support to production and resolving technical issuesLeading problem solving and root cause analysisDriving continuous improvement and Lean Manufacturing initiativesIdentifying opportunities to reduce scrap and improve production yieldSupporting high-precision mechanical assembly processesWorking within a clean room manufacturing environment and maintaining exceptionally high assembly standardsSupporting production team meetings and providing a strong engineering presenceReviewing and improving manufacturing processes, with a focus on quality, repeatability and efficiencySupporting FMEA activity and risk-based problem solvingEnsuring the quality and suitability of materials used within the manufacturing processCoaching, mentoring and developing team membersAllocating work, managing priorities and ensuring engineering tasks are delivered effectivelyActing as a technical lead within a busy, high-pressure production environmentAbout You Were 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 roleAn experienced Engineering Team Leader or Manager who remains technically hands-onA manufacturing engineer who has already had some responsibility for coaching, mentoring or informally leading othersYoull ideally bring experience of: Manufacturing or production engineeringLeading, coaching or mentoring engineers or technical teamsLean Manufacturing and continuous improvementRoot cause analysis and structured problem solvingYield improvement and scrap reductionFMEA and quality-focused engineeringHigh-precision mechanical assembly or similarly detailed manufacturing environmentsWorking to very high standards of quality and process controlYoull 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, youll 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. LNKD1_UKTJ