Manufacturing Engineer

Review the drawings for parts heading into satellites, fusion reactors, submarines and robots, brief the factories that make them, and see how and why parts fail. You'll learn every process from CNC to finishing, straight from the founder, and grow into running your own customers.

This is a profitable, boutique manufacturing consultancy that gets custom parts made for hardware teams, from start-ups to blue chips. Engineers send in CAD, the team reviews it, briefs long-standing partner factories in China, the UK and Europe, and manages the job to quality-checked delivery. More than 400,000 parts across about 4,000 projects, mostly for repeat customers, and a place on the FT1000 list of Europe's fastest growing companies.

The role

You'll start alongside a senior engineer, reviewing incoming RFQs, CAD and drawings and checking that materials, finishes, tolerances and quantities make sense. You'll prepare briefs for partner factories, check their quotes against them, and track orders through production, keeping customers updated as you go. You'll help with quality checks and rework, and get funded trips to see parts made in China.

You'll see more parts, processes and failure modes in a year here than most engineers see in five, and you'll take on your own repeat customers as you grow.

What you'll need

• A degree in mechanical, manufacturing or product design engineering, or similar, with your first engineering role already under your belt.
• Hands-on making experience, from a placement, a prototype shop, a workshop or a Formula Student build, where you made real parts.
• Comfortable reading CAD models and 2D drawings, and curious about why a part is hard or expensive to make.
• Clear, confident communication with customers and suppliers, and you're settled within easy reach of South East London.

The details

• Reporting to the Founder and director
• Small studio team of four, close to Lee station
• Around four days a week in the studio
• Funded factory trips to China and the UK
• Start: ASAP
• 33 days holiday including bank holidays and your birthday
• Private health including mental health, same-day GP and physio
• Employer pension and a discretionary bonus
• MacBook Pro, monitor and home office kit

What it isn't

This isn't a graduate scheme. There's no cohort of other graduates, no rotation and no chartership programme. It's a team of four, so you'll do chasing and admin as well as engineering, and you won't design the parts, you'll help get them made. It's around four days a week in the studio, more at the start. If you want structure handed to you, this won't suit. If you want responsibility early, it will.

If this sounds like your next move, click Apply and we'll be in touch.