Senior Manufacturing Engineer: Thales in Crawley

Location: Crawley, United Kingdom

In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow's possible. Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space.

Your health and well‑being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

If you’re ready to shape how cutting‑edge products are built and want real influence in a high‑impact engineering environment, we’d love to hear from you!

What the role has to offer

• End‑to‑end influence: Ownership from late‑stage industrialisation through to steady‑state production, shaping how new products are manufactured.
• High‑impact environment: Work within a multidisciplinary industrial engineering function (IPEs, Architects, Cost Engineers) on complex, high‑reliability defence products.
• Continuous improvement & innovation focus: Opportunity to embed Industry 4.0, lean methodologies, and advanced manufacturing practices across the shopfloor.

Our Opportunity

Reporting to the Manufacturing Engineering Manager and working within the Industrial Engineering function, this role leads the late stages of industrialisation and supports the production of released products while driving continuous improvement. As a Senior Industrial Process Engineer, you will deliver the industrial capability for new products, support existing ones, and lead MRL 6–8 activities, ensuring compliance with MRL, APQP and safety standards. You’ll optimise shopfloor processes through data‑driven improvements, contribute to earlier industrialisation phases, identify Industry 4.0 opportunities, and mentor the wider IPE team. We’re looking for someone with proven industrial engineering, manufacturing or NPI experience, strong lean and DFM/DFA capability, and the communication and influencing skills needed to work effectively across teams and drive delivery. This role offers the chance to work on highly technical, low‑volume products across four business areas, providing both depth and variety in a cutting‑edge engineering environment. If you’re an experienced manufacturing or industrial engineering professional who thrives on solving complex problems, shaping how products are built, and driving real improvements on the shopfloor, this is a role where you can make a genuine impact and grow your career.

What we offer you

• We offer a competitive salary and benefits package designed to support our employees’ wellbeing and professional growth, which includes:
• Annual bonus (VCP)
• Pension – match like‑for‑like up to 7% of annual base salary
• Life Assurance – 2 x base salary minimum (8 x salary if part of the pension scheme)
• Income Protection – 50% of salary less state benefits for 5 years
• Annual Leave – 201 hours, bank holidays, plus 1 company day
• Private Medical Insurance - Couples cover
• 4 day working week – 9.25 hours per day
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
• 24 hours paid leave for volunteering activities
• Access to flexible benefits and discounts – dental insurance, buying & selling annual leave, cycle to work, and many more

Key Responsibilities and Tasks

• Lead and own the late‑stage industrialisation process (MRL 6–8), ensuring products are ready for full‑scale manufacture.
• Support earlier industrialisation phases in collaboration with the Industrial Architect.
• Set best‑practice standards and provide technical leadership across the Industrial Engineering team.
• Provide ongoing IPE support for production post‑launch (MRL 8+), resolving issues and optimising flow.
• Drive continuous improvement through VSM, 5S, TPM, PFMEA, control plans, and InCIght methodologies.
• Develop and optimise production processes, including BOMs, routings, MES routes, ERP setup, and MI creation.
• Ensure compliance with all health, safety, environmental and regulatory requirements across manufacturing processes.
• Identify and implement Industry 4.0 opportunities to enhance capability, efficiency, and data‑driven decision‑making.

About You

At Thales, we are committed to equal opportunities and welcome all talented individuals to consider joining our team. So even if you don't match every statement below but feel you have some of the experience, knowledge or skills needed for this role, we encourage you to apply. It will take all of us working together to deliver solutions to the world’s most critical challenges.

• Proven relevant experience in a similar role and/or transferable skills.
• Background in industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering or process engineering.
• Experience of establishing new products into an industrial manufacturing environment.
• HNC or HND in a relevant discipline, an engineering apprenticeship, and/or equivalent proven experience.
• Strong understanding of lean principles and continuous improvement.
• Skilled in Design for Manufacture (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA).
• Proven ability to convey information clearly, confidently and appropriately to different audiences.
• Demonstrated experience of working across departments, building strong relationships and ensuring alignment.
• Proven presence, credibility and the ability to influence decisions and stakeholders constructively.
• Experienced in presenting data, updates and recommendations in a structured, concise and easily understood manner.
• Proven structured reasoning and sound judgement abilities.
• Experienced in driving progress for both team and project objectives, ensuring milestones are met.

Join us as a Senior Industrial Process Engineer to shape new product industrialisation, drive continuous improvement, and build your career in manufacturing engineering!

UKEO (UK Eyes Only)

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires you to be a UK National and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. If approved by the MOD, a dual national from a non-ITAR country may be considered.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance: UKSV website.

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks. In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.