Engineering Manager in Glenavy

The Engineering Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for the Engineering function at Langford Lodge, supporting a growing site that manufactures ejector seat components, civil aviation actuation devices, and complex CNC‑machined, treated, textile, and assembled products. The role leads the Engineering team to deliver continuous improvement and the site’s long‑term engineering strategy. As the site’s principal technical authority, the Engineering Manager oversees the design, development, and optimisation of processes, tooling, and equipment to ensure safe, efficient, high‑quality manufacturing. They review major technical concepts, define equipment specifications, and ensure effective cross‑functional integration. The role also drives innovation, solves complex engineering problems, and ensures full compliance with Health, Safety and Environmental standards, identifying risks early and embedding robust engineering controls across the site.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensures Accountability: Sets clear expectations, ensures adherence to policies, tracks milestones, and intervenes early when work needs realignment.
• Plans and Aligns: Develops prioritised plans aligned to organisational goals; anticipates obstacles and adjusts quickly; promotes coordinated cross‑functional working.
• Decision Quality: Makes sound, evidence‑based decisions, responding decisively in urgent or ambiguous situations and involving others when needed.
• Manages Complexity: Analyses complex and contradictory information, identifies root causes swiftly, and focuses on the core issue.
• Cultivates Innovation: Encourages new ideas, identifies improvement opportunities, and supports creative, collaborative problem‑solving.
• Communicates Effectively: Tailors communication to different audiences, listens actively, and builds trust through open, clear dialogue.
• Builds Effective Teams: Creates aligned, high‑performing teams, leverages individual strengths, addresses dysfunctions, and supports team‑building.
• Collaborates: Builds strong partnerships based on trust, openness, and shared accountability; recognises collaborative success.
• Leadership & Direction: Communicates Engineering strategy, aligns it to organisational goals, and motivates the team to deliver exceptional results.
• Project Management: Leads critical engineering projects, ensuring effective planning, cross‑functional coordination, and on‑time delivery.
• Process Design Engineering: Designs and improves manufacturing processes, defining methods, steps, equipment and systems to meet cost, quality and performance targets.
• Engineering Standards: Establishes and maintains engineering standards and specifications that ensure quality, compliance, safety and risk mitigation.
• Technical Troubleshooting: Leads complex problem‑solving, ensuring strong diagnosis, robust solutions and prevention of recurrence.
• Budget Management: Manages departmental and project budgets, contributing to planning and ensuring delivery within financial targets.
• Performance Management: Sets expectations, monitors progress, holds team members accountable and applies corrective action when required.
• Organisational Capability: Assesses skills, identifies gaps, drives targeted development and supports career progression to strengthen Engineering capability.

Skills

• Strong engineering foundation; skilled in analysing problems and optimising processes.
• Proficient with engineering drawings, documentation and structured problem‑solving (RCA, 8D, FMEA).
• Experience in new processes, capability growth and advanced manufacturing technologies.
• Drives data‑led continuous improvement and develops engineering talent.
• Creates and approves engineering standards and validates equipment, tooling and processes.
• Reviews supplier specifications for compliance.
• Expert in project scheduling, risk management and delivery control.
• Adapts thinking and methods to changing environments; applies design‑thinking principles.
• Ensures compliance with engineering standards and provides technical guidance.
• Advanced user of engineering tools and systems; supports others in effective use.

Person Specification

• Essential Degree qualified in a relevant engineering, manufacturing or operations discipline.
• Minimum 8 years' leadership experience in large‑scale manufacturing or aerospace operations, with a proven ability to deliver sustained performance improvement.

Other Requirements

• Willingness to work additional hours when required to meet business needs.
• Occasional UK travel may be required.
• Full driving licence.