Production Technical Manager | Defence & Aerospace

Production Technical Manager | Defence & Aerospace

• £60,000 - £75,000 + 10% bonus + excellent benefits
• Kidderminster (Onsite role)

We are supporting a leading UK defence and aerospace organisation with the appointment of a Production Technical Manager at its manufacturing site in Kidderminster.

This is a newly created engineering leadership position, offering the opportunity to establish and lead a new Production Technical Support function while taking technical ownership across a complex product portfolio from manufacture through to in-service support.

The successful candidate will work closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Operations, Programmes and Supply Chain , providing technical leadership and engineering direction to ensure products remain technically robust, manufacturable, compliant and supportable throughout their lifecycle.

The Role

As Production Technical Manager, you will act as a key engineering focal point for technical issues arising during manufacture, assembly, integration and product support .

• Providing technical leadership across products currently in production and in service
• Leading a newly formed Production Technical Support engineering team, including supporting recruitment and team development
• Acting as the engineering focal point for complex technical issues affecting manufacturing and product performance
• Leading investigations into production non-conformances, technical failures and customer issues
• Developing and implementing robust corrective and preventative actions
• Supporting Design Authorities and the Head of Engineering in maintaining product technical integrity
• Providing technical direction across multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Ensuring engineering decisions are appropriately documented, justified and communicated
• Supporting Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain and Programme teams to minimise production disruption and maintain delivery performance
• Providing technical support for customer queries relating to production and in-service products

Engineering Change & Production Support

A significant part of the role will involve supporting the controlled introduction of engineering and manufacturing changes into production.

• Lead engineering support for the embodiment of product design changes following pre-production design validation
• Support the management of component and material obsolescence
• Lead technical support and product validation activities associated with changes to manufacturing equipment and tooling
• Support improvements to engineering change management processes
• Ensure changes are implemented in a controlled and technically robust manner
• Work closely with Engineering and Manufacturing to maintain configuration control throughout the product lifecycle

In-Service Surveillance

You will also take technical leadership for In-Service Surveillance activities , analysing product performance and surveillance data to identify technical risks, trends and opportunities for improvement.

• Leading the technical delivery of In-Service Surveillance programmes
• Producing customer-facing technical deliverables
• Analysing surveillance data and product performance trends
• Developing engineering recommendations to improve reliability, safety and lifecycle performance
• Supporting customer technical reviews relating to product performance and service life

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

This is both a technical leadership and people management position.

You will initially help establish the new Production Technical Support team, including recruitment, development and definition of the team's capability.

• Lead, mentor and develop engineers within the team
• Establish clear objectives and development plans
• Support the development and training of Design Authorities
• Promote engineering best practice and knowledge sharing
• Provide technical guidance and coaching in problem-solving and troubleshooting
• Build strong relationships across Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Operations, Programmes and Supply Chain
• Represent Engineering within Level 3 QRQC activities and lead the rapid resolution of engineering actions
• Provide effective technical communication to both internal stakeholders and customers

What We're Looking For

We are looking for an experienced engineering professional who can combine strong technical judgement with leadership, stakeholder management and practical production experience .

• A degree or HND in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or a related discipline
• Significant engineering experience within aerospace, defence or another highly regulated manufacturing environment
• Experience supporting products through manufacture and into service
• Strong knowledge of engineering change management and configuration control
• Proven experience leading investigations into complex technical and production issues
• Experience managing multidisciplinary engineering stakeholders
• Strong understanding of product lifecycle management
• Experience working within EN9100 or another highly regulated engineering environment
• Excellent technical problem-solving and decision-making capability
• Strong communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Experience managing and developing engineering teams

Why This Opportunity?

This is more than a conventional Engineering Manager position.

As a newly created role , you will have the opportunity to shape the structure, capability and processes of a new technical support function while having a direct impact on production performance, product reliability, engineering change and in-service capability .

You will be operating alongside senior engineering leadership and Design Authorities, providing the technical bridge between product engineering and the realities of production and in-service support .

If you are an experienced engineer who enjoys solving complex technical problems, leading people and working at the interface between engineering and manufacturing, this could be an excellent next step.