CNC Applications Engineer in Watford

Location: Remote (with regular UK & Ireland travel)

Salary: Up to £55,000 as package

Benefits:

• 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays 33 days in total)
• Company Pension 6% of base salary (salary sacrifice scheme)
• Healthcare Medical cover
• Company related profit scheme
• Annual OR Bi-Annual bonuses (dependant on role and company)
• Modern working environment
• Friendly and welcoming team with approachable management
• Continued staff development
• Interesting and challenging work
• Working with leading UK & Irish precision engineering companies/customers
• Great comradery throughout the business from hands-on Management
• PPE / Company uniform provided (if appropriate)
• IT equipment, workwear & tools provided
• Company car provided (BMW 330 PHEV nominal), company-funded excluding private mileage
• Lots of additional company incentives.

Company Profile: A specialist precision CNC machine tool manufacturer and UK & Ireland sales/support hub for advanced sliding-head and multi-axis mill-turn turning centres. The business has a long-established presence in British manufacturing, with two UK facilities supporting machine sales, applications engineering, service, spares, and customer training. Backed by a wider global group, the company continues to invest in next-generation mill-turn technology, automation-ready platforms, and specialist applications support. Demand is growing steadily across aerospace, medical, automotive, defence, energy, and high-precision subcontract machining - driving further expansion of the engineering team. This is an engineer-led environment where practical know-how is valued. You’ll be trusted to take ownership, supported with high-level product training, and surrounded by colleagues who enjoy solving real machining challenges with customers.

Job Profile: As the successful Applications Engineer, you will be working alongside a friendly team of applications and service specialists, responsible for delivering high-quality CNC applications support, programming, prove-outs, demonstrations, and customer/dealer training on advanced sliding-head and fixed-head mill-turn lathes. The goal is simple: help customers and internal teams get the absolute best productivity, accuracy and reliability from these machines. You will come from a CNC mill-turn or sliding-head background, with strong, practical experience programming, setting and operating CNC lathes with live/driven tooling (MillTurn) and/or CNC sliding-head machines. Because this role supports real production environments and turnkey delivery, you must be confident programming directly at the machine control, not purely offline.

Duties:

• Provide on-site applications support to customers across the UK & Ireland, including machine set-up, prove-outs, cutting optimisation and operator training.
• Deliver technical and programming support to distribution partners, ensuring successful installations and ongoing performance of new and existing machine platforms.
• Run customer and partner machine demonstrations, setting up and programming machines for test or customer components, explaining processes clearly and professionally.
• Create, prove and refine machining methods and CNC programs that solve customers component and process challenges.
• Produce accurate and achievable cycle time studies, using full machine capability to maximise productivity.
• Support machine installations in showrooms and at customer sites, checking factory specifications and safe operation.
• Provide telephone/remote technical support on programming and application issues as required.
• Stay current with new machine developments, attending manufacturer training and helping develop internal/external training courses.
• Support exhibitions, open houses and in-house events where needed.
• You may be asked to perform other duties on occasion.

Skills & Attributes:

• Excellent hands-on knowledge of programming, setting and operating CNC lathes with live/driven tooling (MillTurn) and/or CNC sliding-head machines.
• Must have excellent knowledge of programming these machines on the controls at the machine.
• Strong metal-cutting knowledge: tooling selection, cutting data, work holding, and process optimisation.
• A practical problem-solver who enjoys improving cycle time, stability and part quality.
• Comfortable communicating with customers and training operators/engineers in a clear, supportive way.
• Able to work independently, manage travel, and always represent the business professionally.
• Full UK driving licence and willingness to travel regularly (with occasional overseas trips as experience develops).

Education / Certificates:

• Apprenticeship or time-served background in CNC machining / precision engineering preferred.
• Formal CNC / manufacturing engineering qualifications beneficial but not essential if experience is strong.

Hours of Work:

• Theoretical Monday to Friday, 37-hour week
• Usually based at either the Bushey (Watford) or Brierley Hill facilities, with regular customer-site work throughout the UK and Ireland
• Occasional trips to other territories supported by the business (typically for more experienced engineers)
• Flexibility required to meet customer needs and travel schedules

Interested? If you’re the kind of engineer who enjoys getting under the skin of complex mill-turn and sliding-head work, this is a role where your skill genuinely matters. You’ll be joining a market-leading CNC specialist with top-tier technology, a growing customer base, and a culture that backs its engineers with proper training and respect. In return, you’ll have variety, autonomy, and strong earning potential through commission and bonuses, alongside a high-quality tools-and-car package. You’ll work with some of the best precision manufacturers in the UK and Ireland helping them push performance further every day.