Senior Quality Engineering Manager in Surrey

At McLaren Racing, we believe only by chasing performance in everything we do can we give ourselves the best chance of success. Performance on track and in the factory. Performance for our people, our business and our partners. It’s about more than winning. It’s about hitting the highest standards, and then raising the bar again.

Purpose of the Role

Reliability is fundamental to championship performance. As Senior Manager, Quality Engineering, you will lead the Quality Engineering function across design, manufacturing and supply chain, with a clear focus on delivering perfect reliability. Working closely with cross-functional teams, you will establish robust quality standards, identify and mitigate risks early, and drive a right-first-time culture that prevents repeat issues and enables world-class performance on and off the track.

What You’ll Do

• Define and deliver the Quality Engineering strategy, ensuring alignment to reliability objectives, operational performance and business priorities.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team of Quality Engineers, creating clear ownership, standards and expectations across the function.
• Take ownership of supply chain quality, establishing robust supplier quality processes, audits, quality gates and escalation routes.
• Partner with Design, Manufacturing Engineering and Supply Chain teams to identify and manage quality risks from concept through to production release.
• Drive Quality Engineering involvement in design reviews, manufacturing readiness reviews and production release decisions to ensure manufacturability, inspectability and quality are embedded from the outset.
• Lead the identification, escalation and resolution of reliability risks, supporting reliability forums with clear, evidence-based recommendations.
• Own key quality metrics and dashboards, using data and trend analysis to prioritise activity, prevent repeat issues and improve right-first-time delivery.
• Develop and implement processes, standards and operating models that strengthen quality, consistency and performance across the organisation.
• Foster a culture of proactive problem-solving, technical excellence and continuous improvement.

What You’ll Bring

• Significant leadership experience within Quality Engineering in a high-performance environment such as motorsport, aerospace, automotive or advanced manufacturing.
• Proven experience leading supplier quality and supply chain assurance within complex, low-volume, high-variability manufacturing environments.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes including precision machining, composites, metallics, additive manufacturing, assemblies and special processes.
• Expertise in supplier audits, supplier development, quality gates, corrective action management and continuous improvement.
• Strong knowledge of root cause analysis methodologies, including 8D and non-conformance management processes.
• Experience working closely with Design, Manufacturing, Inspection and Supply Chain teams to improve manufacturability and production readiness.
• Ability to analyse quality and supplier performance data, assess technical risk and make informed decisions in fast-paced environments.
• Experience developing operating models, quality standards, metrics and performance frameworks.
• A track record of leading, coaching and developing high-performing technical teams.

Personal Attributes

• Strong technical judgement with the confidence to challenge risk and make difficult decisions when required.
• Proactive, resilient and comfortable operating in high-pressure, fast-moving environments.
• A collaborative and influential communicator who can build trusted relationships across Design, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality and Reliability.
• Able to balance urgency with rigour, ensuring quality and performance are never compromised.
• Naturally analytical, with the ability to simplify complex challenges into clear priorities and actions.
• Passionate about developing people, driving accountability and creating clarity across teams.
• Demonstrates energy, professionalism and a relentless commitment to team success.
• Embodies our values of being Brave, Respectful, Innovative, Inclusive and Energetic in everything you do.

What can McLaren offer?

We constantly strive to be better tomorrow than we are today. Our ambition is to be the most pioneering and exhilarating racing team in the world, and our collective task is to set the standards for high performance in sport. We show up every day with energy and enthusiasm, ready to play our part. We encourage and support diversity, equity and inclusion. We will actively promote a culture that values difference and eliminates discrimination in our workplace.

McLaren Racing is based at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) near Woking. Our state of the art, sustainable campus offers many facilities including a gym, restaurant and indoor and outdoor break‑out areas, as well as direct access to park and common land. The MTC is connected to Woking mainline station via regular shuttle buses, from which London Waterloo is a 30‑minute train ride. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including private healthcare, car schemes, life insurance and generous pension contributions.