Optimisation Engineer
Location: Oxfordshire
Salary: Up to £45,000 per annum
Job Type: Full-time, Permanent
The Opportunity
I'm working with an exciting Food Manufacturing business that is looking for an experienced Optimisation Engineer to join their Operations team.
This is a fantastic opportunity for an engineer who enjoys being hands-on, data-driven and focused on making a measurable difference across manufacturing performance.
You will play a key role in improving efficiency, reliability, quality and cost, using continuous improvement and engineering principles to reduce waste and downtime while increasing throughput and capacity.
Key Responsibilities
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Analyse production data including OEE, downtime, yield, waste and energy consumption to identify improvement opportunities.
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Lead and support Continuous Improvement / Lean / Six Sigma initiatives.
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Optimise manufacturing processes to improve efficiency, capacity and cost.
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Work closely with Production and Engineering teams to improve equipment reliability and reduce breakdowns.
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Lead Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and implement sustainable corrective actions.
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Support commissioning, validation and optimisation of new equipment and process changes.
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Lead or support CI projects from concept through to implementation and validation.
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Act as a Pillar Lead for Autonomous Maintenance and Progressive Maintenance.
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Play a key role in a major capacity expansion project, including the evaluation of in-line freezing.
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Develop SOPs, best-practice processes and training for operators and engineers.
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Lead projects focused on automation, energy reduction and delivering strong ROI.
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Track and report improvements, savings and project performance.
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Work collaboratively across Production, Quality, Technical, Engineering and Supply Chain.
About You
You'll ideally have:
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A degree or equivalent experience in Engineering – Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, Chemical or similar.
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Minimum 2 years' experience within Food or FMCG Manufacturing.
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Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and production equipment.
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Experience working with OEE, SPC and manufacturing performance data.
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Experience using CAD packages.
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Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing / Continuous Improvement methodologies.
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Strong analytical, problem-solving and project management skills.
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The ability to influence and engage shop-floor teams.
Desirable
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Six Sigma Green Belt or higher.
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Advanced Excel / Power BI experience.
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Experience in temperature-controlled food manufacturing.
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Automation, PLC or process control experience.
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Knowledge of BRC, HACCP or ISO 22000.
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Previous project management experience.
Why Apply?
This is an opportunity to join a fast-moving Food Manufacturing environment where you can have a genuine impact on manufacturing performance.
You'll be working on significant improvement and capacity projects, including high-ROI automation and energy reduction initiatives, while helping to build a stronger culture of operational excellence.
If you're a proactive engineer who enjoys solving problems, improving processes and seeing the results of your work on the shop floor, this could be an excellent next career move.
Salary: Up to £45,000 + benefits
Apply now for a confidential discussion
