Production Engineer
Southampton
Hands-on Production Engineer salary: £45,000 – £48,250
Please note: only applicants with the full-time, permanent right to work in the UK will be considered.
Hands-on Production Engineer Overview:
Support and improve automated production lines in a growing in-house manufacturing site
Work hands-on with machinery issues, setup, changeovers and production performance
Lead RCA, process improvement, documentation and standardisation activity
Create SOPs, machine instructions and repeatable working methods for production teams
Develop machine setters and operators while improving reliability, output and consistency
This Production Engineer role is with a growing manufacturer in Southampton, supporting a newly established in-house production operation. The Production Engineer will work across automated production lines, helping improve line reliability, reduce downtime, standardise machine setup and support day-to-day technical issues on the shop floor. This Production Engineer position suits someone who combines process improvement and RCA capability with the hands-on engineering confidence to work directly with machinery, setters and production teams.
The Hands-on Production Engineer role
As Production Engineer, you’ll spend significant time on the shop floor understanding how each machine and process works, then using that knowledge to improve consistency, documentation and line performance. The production environment is still developing, so the Production Engineer will play a key part in building better structure around machine manuals, SOPs, setup methods, changeovers, fault finding and training.
This is not a purely desk-based CI role and it is not a pure maintenance position. The Production Engineer needs to be comfortable investigating production problems, supporting machinery issues, working with operators and machine setters, and turning practical improvements into repeatable processes.
Day-to-day responsibilities of a Hands-on Production Engineer
Provide day-to-day engineering support across automated production lines
Investigate production issues and identify practical technical solutions
Support machine setters with setup, changeover and operating problems
Help identify causes of downtime, quality issues and poor line performance
Create and maintain machine manuals, SOPs and operating instructions
Document setup requirements, standard settings and product changeover methods
Improve consistency between shifts, operators and production runs
Lead or support RCA activity for recurring machine and process issues
Support corrective actions following machinery, process or quality problems
Improve changeover methods and reduce unnecessary downtime
Support breakdowns, fault finding and practical repairs where appropriate
Assist with planned maintenance activity and spare-parts requirements
Work with suppliers or specialist contractors where additional support is needed
Guide and train machine setters and production staff on improved ways of working
Support continuous improvement projects across reliability, productivity and process controlWhat they’re looking for - Hands-on Production Engineer
Experience in a Production Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Process Engineer or similar role
Background working around automated production machinery
Strong practical understanding of manufacturing processes and shop-floor problem solving
Experience with root cause analysis, corrective actions and continuous improvement
Able to create clear SOPs, work instructions, machine guides or technical documentation
Comfortable supporting machine setup, changeovers and production issues directly
Confident working with operators, machine setters and wider production teams
Practical, analytical and able to bring structure to a developing manufacturing environment
Able to understand machinery in detail and turn improvements into repeatable standardsDesirable - Hands-on Production Engineer
Experience in packaging, filling, capping, labelling or automated line environments
Background in FMCG, food, beverage, cosmetics, chemical, consumer products or process manufacturing
Maintenance or breakdown support experience
Mechanical and electrical fault-finding ability
Pneumatics, PLC/HMI fault diagnosis or automated equipment troubleshooting
Planned preventative maintenance exposure
Lean Manufacturing, OEE, downtime analysis or structured CI experience
Experience training or mentoring machine setters, operators or production staff
What’s on offer - Hands-on Production Engineer
Production Engineer salary: £45,000 – £48,250
A hands-on Production Engineer role with real influence over how a newer manufacturing operation is structured, supported and improved.
The chance to work across automated production lines, machinery support, RCA, documentation, training and continuous improvement.
A strong opportunity for a Production Engineer who enjoys practical problem solving and wants to help build a more reliable, standardised and efficient production environment.
How to apply for the Hands-on Production Engineer position
If you’re interested in this Production Engineer role, get in touch to talk through the manufacturing environment and improvement scope.
Call or message Hayden at Holt Engineering on (phone number removed)
