Engineering Manager in Wokingham

Role Purpose: The role includes two primary and complementary responsibilities: the management of the engineering capability at our Wokingham site and the technical leadership of the Integration Portfolio Team (IPT) for the Vision4ce Product line. The complete engineering capability is split across three sites in total. Engineering resource from any site may be allocated to any of IPTs (currently seven) as the business requires. The Engineering Manager is required to consider the needs of the whole business in resource planning and allocation.

In the role of the engineering lead in the Vision4ce IPT, the Engineering Manager is responsible for the planning and execution of tasks allocated to the Vision4ce Portfolio, including but not limited to bids, projects, production and research. The Engineering Manager works within the IPT leadership team (IPT Lead and IPT Operations Lead) to deliver the Portfolio. The Engineering Manager will provide oversight to the sub-teams within the IPT to ensure execution follows prescribed process and working practice, this requires close interaction with the nominated Technical Lead for each task (and Project Manager when appropriate) and the Product Managers.

Key Responsibilities:

• Accountable to the Engineering Director for the management and leadership of the Engineering team across Horsham and Plymouth sites.
• Engineering capability sustainment, development and continuous improvement.
• Engineering staff training and development to support business needs of suitably qualified and experienced personnel (SQEP), including management of the team training budget.
• Ensuring effective knowledge transfer across the team to support innovation, resource flexibility and availability.
• Ensuring professional standards and good engineering practice are adhered to with high quality technical and documented outputs.
• Capture of engineering resource requirements and management of short and long term resource planning, work with IPT Leadership to propose and allocate resource.
• Providing technical expertise and leadership to Vision4ce IPT activities as required to resolve blockers and address internal and external customer requirements.
• Supporting the Engineering Director in strategic planning and management of technology, engineering resource and engineering operations.
• Support all IPT Leads in the provision of resource, work definition, risk management, and team performance management.
• Oversight of through-life product configuration control.
• Working with the Vision4ce IPT Lead and Technical Leads to produce the engineering resource demand, being accountable for plans and estimates submitted to the business for bids and project planning.
• Providing design governance for products in the Vision4ce portfolio and ensuring the IPT adheres to prescribed engineering process and good practice.
• Ensuring delivery of Vision4ce IPT portfolio on time, meeting all quality and customer requirements.

Skills & Experience

Essential:

• Extensive experience relevant to the manufacturing industry and project delivery.
• Extensive experience of through life product management.
• Strong grasp of electrical and software disciplines, sufficient to lead and support the respective teams.
• Good understanding of optical sensors and image processing techniques.
• Experience in small/medium engineering team leadership delivering electrical and software products.
• A good understanding of systems engineering and the concept of product lifecycle management.
• Experienced in application of industry standards and statutory compliance.
• Significant experience of design reviews across the full development lifecycle.
• Working experience of business configuration control systems (ERP, PDM, etc).
• Exemplary in initiating continuing improvement and streamlining processes.
• Established line manager responsible for employee development and performance management.
• Demonstrable experience of successful task estimating and resource planning.
• Comprehensive understanding of project management and risk management.
• Experienced in dealing with high profile customers and stakeholders.
• Dedication to teamwork in complex problem solving, especially across other departments.

Desirable:

• Hands-on extensive experience of primary engineering disciplines (electrical, software).
• Experienced in mentoring of professional engineers.
• Good understanding of specific land/maritime defence customer requirements.
• Good understanding of core Chess product technology (electro-mechanical positioners, image processing).
• In-depth understanding of optical sensors and image processing techniques.
• Previous experience working in a matrix organisation.

Personal Attributes:

• Highly organised planner.
• Commitment to teamwork and inclusivity.
• Commitment to excellence and quality.
• Ability to spot issues/risks/opportunities without micro-managing.
• Attention to critical detail.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and written skills.
• Sensitive to stakeholder hot buttons.
• Able to maintain professionalism in a crisis situation.
• Innovative and resourceful.

Work life balance:

• 37.5 hour working week.
• Lunchtime finishes on a Friday.
• Hybrid / flexible working arrangements.
• 28 days annual leave.
• Christmas closure.
• Holiday purchasing scheme.

Benefits:

• Group pension plan – matched contributions up to 6%.
• Income protection scheme.
• Private Medical Insurance.
• Employee Assistance Programme gives you and your family access to 4 key services including remote GP service, second opinion, mental health pathway service and physiotherapy consultations.
• Life assurance policy, including bereavement counselling and probate helpline.
• Company shares incentive plan and save as you earn scheme.
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme.
• Wellbeing initiatives, including access to wellbeing app and the addition of mental health support for all employees.
• Regular sports and social activities.
• Reward platform (high street discounts, employee benefits, health and wellbeing offerings).
• Recruitment referral bonus scheme.
• Excellent learning & development opportunities.

Security Clearance Requirements:

Due to the nature of our business, our staff need to be able to obtain UK Security Clearance as a mandated requirement. Therefore, if successful, you will need to provide proof of identity, employment history and right to work in the UK, along with proof of UK residency for at least five years.