Job Title: Production Engineer

Job Type: Permanent

Location: Stafford area, Staffordshire

Salary: £35,000 – £45,000 DOE

Industry: Engineering & Manufacturing

Wentworth James Group is partnering with a well-established and growing precision manufacturing business based in Stafford. We are recruiting a hands-on Production Engineer on a permanent basis to drive manufacturing improvement and help bring new products into production.

About the Role

This is a practical, shop-floor-focused position for an engineer who enjoys owning problems and seeing them through. You will improve the performance of existing metalwork and assembly processes, getting to the root of issues and putting lasting fixes in place with minimal supervision.

You will also play a key part in New Product Introduction (NPI), making sure new products move smoothly from design into production with the right methods, tooling, documentation and controls in place.

Our client is open-minded about background – what matters is practical experience, strong problem-solving and a track record of delivering real improvements in a manufacturing setting.

Key Responsibilities

• Take ownership of production, process and equipment issues and resolve them independently.
• Lead structured root-cause investigations and put robust corrective and preventative actions in place.
• Drive improvements in productivity, quality, cost and process efficiency.
• Support NPI by turning new designs and customer requirements into practical, repeatable manufacturing processes.
• Plan production readiness for new products – routings, methods, tooling, fixtures, work instructions and quality checks.
• Spot manufacturing risks early and resolve design-for-manufacture and assembly issues ahead of full production.
• Support first-off builds, prove-outs and process validation before handover to production.
• Design and improve jigs, fixtures, tooling and error-proofing (poka-yoke) solutions.
• Work closely with operators and production teams to understand problems and implement practical fixes.
• Run improvement projects end to end, from identifying the problem through to measurable results.
• Use production data, observation and sound engineering judgement to find opportunities and prove the gains.
• Lock in improvements through standardised documentation, work instructions and process controls.

Requirements

Essential:

• Proven background in a hands-on manufacturing, production, process or mechanical engineering role.
• Clear examples of improvements you have personally delivered, with measurable results.
• Strong fault-finding, root-cause analysis and problem-solving skills.
• Confidence to tackle unfamiliar problems and see solutions through without constant direction.
• Experience introducing new products, processes or methods into production (or strong transferable experience).
• Practical experience with manufacturing equipment, production processes, tooling or fixtures.
• Proactive attitude and good communication skills, comfortable working directly with shop-floor teams.

Desirable:

• Exposure to metal fabrication, CNC machinery, laser cutting, press brakes, assembly or automated production equipment.

Our client values what you can demonstrate you have achieved over job titles or qualifications alone – please be ready to talk through problems you have investigated, solutions you have implemented and the impact they had.

What Success Looks Like

The successful engineer will become the go-to owner for engineering challenges on site – reducing repeat production problems, improving processes and delivering measurable benefits without needing close day-to-day supervision. They will also make sure new products land on the shop floor efficiently, with issues caught early and production teams set up to deliver consistent quality and output.

This is a great opportunity for a capable, hands-on engineer to make a visible impact on both current manufacturing performance and future product introduction.