Senior Production Engineer in Blyth

At Dräger we protect, support and rescue lives day in and day out. We are interested in you if you have the desire to work for an organisation that does something more, something that is truly worth working for. As an international leader in medical and safety technology, we develop pioneering devices, software, services and solutions that people around the world trust. Wherever Dräger products are used, it’s about the most important thing: it’s about life.

About the Role

The Senior Production Engineer is responsible for leading the successful transition of new products from R&D to full production within Operations. The role ensures that product designs, processes, and validation activities are developed into production‑ready solutions that meet safety, quality, cost and delivery requirements. As a senior technical and people leader, the role provides day‑to‑day leadership of the New Product Development (NPD) Engineering team, driving manufacturing readiness, technical decision making and effective delivery of NPD programmes. Working will be in close partnership with the Engineering Manager, Senior Engineering peers and the R&D department to align NPD activities with manufacturing strategy, technology road‑maps, and operational capability. The role aligns with Dräger's Integrated Management System (IMS), WeLEAD behaviours, and the continuous improvement culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & New Product Development: Lead the industrialisation of new breathing safety related products from development through pilot build and into full production. Own the manufacturing readiness of new products, ensuring processes are robust, validated and suitable for volume manufacture. Provide senior technical input into design reviews, ensuring manufacturability, assembly efficiency, testability and regulatory compliance. Act as the escalation point for complex manufacturing and production challenges within NPD.
• Team Leadership & People Management: Line‑manage Production Engineers within the NPD team, providing technical guidance, prioritisation, coaching and performance management. Responsible for the NPD team cost centre budget as well as budget projection, tracking and control of NPD projects. Support capability development, skills growth, succession planning and recruitment within the NPD Production Engineering team. Foster a strong safety, quality and continuous improvement culture.
• Cross‑Functional & Senior Engineering Alignment: Work closely with the Engineering Manager to align NPD priorities with operational strategy, resource planning and business objectives. Collaborate with Senior Production Engineering (Industrial Engineering) to ensure alignment between NPD processes and long‑term manufacturing standards, platforms and technologies. Partner with the Senior Controls Engineer to ensure automation, control systems and test solutions are aligned with product and manufacturing requirements. Act as a key interface between the NPD team and Production, Quality, Planning, Health & Safety and Maintenance departments. Work closely with the R&D department to ensure manufacturing considerations are embedded early in the product development lifecycle, specifically via DFT, DFM, PFMEA.
• Manufacturing & Process Excellence: Lead the development and validation of manufacturing processes, tooling, fixtures, work instructions and test methods. Drive PFMEAs, control plans, process capability studies and risk mitigation activities. Support pilot builds, process trials and production ramp‑up, ensuring smooth transition to manufacturing teams.
• Quality, Compliance & Governance: Ensure all NPD manufacturing processes meet internal standards, regulatory requirements and the expectations of safety‑critical products. Lead and support engineering change control activities related to NPD. Ensure accurate and timely generation of engineering and manufacturing documentation. Act as representative of Operations within the Hyper‑care team during product post‑launch periods.
• Continuous Improvement & Strategy: Identify opportunities to improve NPD delivery, industrialisation efficiency and manufacturing robustness. Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across Operations and Engineering. Support the development of best practice standards for NPD within the organisation.

Shared Responsibilities: To comply with the Business Information Centre (BIC) and minimise any impact on the environment whilst carrying out your duties. To ensure and promote safe working conditions for all employees, visitors and contractors by implementing, monitoring and complying with occupational health & safety provisions. To embed our WeLEAD competencies – I build trust, I create value for the customer, I enable others, I provide direction, I embrace diversity, I deliver results.

Reporting Relationships: Engineering Manager. Size of team: 4.

Your Qualifications:

Degree or equivalent qualification / experience in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Production Engineering or similar. Extensive experience in a Manufacturing or Production Engineering role, ideally within regulated or safety‑critical industries. Proven track record of leading multi‑disciplinary projects from concept to production launch. Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, assembly methods and industrialisation principles. Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and bill of materials. Experience with new product introduction within manufacturing highly desirable. Credible technical authority with a collaborative leadership style. Proactive, resilient and comfortable operating in complex, cross‑functional environments. Confident communicator able to influence at all levels of the organisation. Comfortable with CAD software: Inventor, Fusion, AutoCAD. Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma or continuous improvement training.

Dräger's Benefits: 27 days holiday plus bank holidays, with option to purchase up to 3 additional days. Flexi scheme. Discounted critical illness cover, dental cover and partner life assurance. Healthcare cash plan. Subsidised canteen. Discounted shopping & leisure vouchers. Salary sacrifice car scheme. Cycle to Work. Gym membership discounts – up to 25%. Charity Giving scheme.

Dräger's dedication: At Dräger we have a clear vision, to be an organisation with a working environment that includes a diverse mix of talented people who want to come, stay and grow. We ensure candidates with the required qualifications and experience will be considered for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age or veteran status. All are welcome to apply!

Who We Are: From hospitals to fire departments to industrial customers, people around the world rely on our products: cutting‑edge technology that combines real engineering with the digital future. With over 130 years of experience, passion and the bold ideas of more than 16,000 employees, we are committed to turning technology into "technology for life".

Interested? Please apply directly through our career portal. We look forward to receiving your application.