Senior Manufacturing Development Engineer

Senior Manufacturing Development Engineer

Location: Oxford, UK
£Competitive + Benefits

Ready to take manufacturing out of the lab and into high-volume production?

This is a hands-on, high-impact role for an engineer who thrives on turning complex builds into production-ready components at scale.

You'll lead the end-to-end development, validation, and industrialisation of secondary manufacturing processes-owning capability, yield, cost, and scalability. From de powdering and precision EDM to chemical processing and mass finishing, you'll define what "production-ready" really means.

A major focus of the role is vacuum filling and hermetic sealing of vapour chambers, including dry-out, sealing, and helium leak testing to demanding specifications.

This role is about making processes work-robustly, repeatably, and efficiently. You'll drive automation and scale-up, eliminate bottlenecks, improve cycle times, and reduce operator dependency.

Expect to design fixtures, qualify parameters, write specifications, run DOE and SPC, and lead processes through IQ/OQ/PQ into stable production. You'll also prepare processes for transfer to contract manufacturers and support quality investigations when things don't go to plan.

You'll collaborate closely with design, materials, quality, operations, suppliers, and equipment OEMs, while mentoring junior engineers and training operators on the shop floor.

If you have experience taking manufacturing processes from pilot to production-and deep hands-on knowledge of vacuum processes, leak testing, micro-joining, EDM, or surface finishing-this is a chance to own critical technology and see your work make it to market.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end development, validation, and industrialisation of secondary manufacturing processes, owning capability, yield, cost, and scalability.
• Define production-ready specifications for processes including vacuum filling, hermetic sealing, dry-out, and helium leak testing.
• Design fixtures, qualify parameters, write specifications, run DOE and SPC, and guide processes through IQ/OQ/PQ into stable production.
• Prepare processes for transfer to contract manufacturers and support quality investigations when issues arise.
• Collaborate with design, materials, quality, operations, suppliers, and equipment OEMs; mentor junior engineers and train operators on the shop floor.
• Drive automation, scale-up, and continuous improvement to reduce bottlenecks, improve cycle times, and reduce operator dependency.

Qualifications

• Experience taking manufacturing processes from pilot to production.
• Deep hands-on knowledge of vacuum processes, leak testing, micro-joining, EDM, or surface finishing.
• Ability to design, qualify, and transfer processes to manufacturing environments; strong problem-solving and collaboration skills.