Engineering Lead

Fortune Brands Innovations are a US based company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, that owns and develops a dynamic portfolio of brands for homes worldwide.

Our specialist kitchen and bathroom division, Fortune Brands Water Innovations, is made up of a collection of leading luxury UK brands: Shaws of Darwen, Perrin & Rowe, and Victoria & Albert Baths, which we market under the umbrella brand, House of Rohl.

In addition, Aqualisa completes our portfolio with its market leading digital showering technology.

All of our brands are united by a belief in design, innovation and craftmanship, leading to beautiful and high-quality products.

With manufacturing sites throughout the UK, and a House of Rohl showroom at the Design Centre in London, we currently employ over 600 people who are dedicated to delivering excellent products and service throughout our supply chain. A new multi-million-pound state-of-the-art facility at the i54 Business Park in Wolverhampton will be completed later this year, generating exciting new opportunities across the business as we continue to grow.

Our people are what make our business, and we truly care about creating a ‘Home for All’ where employees are empowered to make a difference, and able to bring their authentic selves to work. We are passionate about rewarding excellence and helping people to grow, both personally and professionally, during their time with us.

If you are looking for opportunities within a progressive, innovative, and nurturing organisation; and have the energy, passion, and commitment to deliver excellence, we would love to hear from you.

We currently have an exciting opportunity to join us as a UK Manufacturing Engineering Lead within our Engineering Team.

In a nutshell you will be responsible for:

Overseeing a team of Manufacturing Engineers, and working with the wider Engineering function, you are responsible for driving the completion of engineering projects relating to both brassware and ceramics.

Taking a hands-on approach, you will play a key role in optimizing manufacturing processes, driving continuous improvement, and leading projects to enhance productivity, quality, and efficiency across our manufacturing facilities.

In addition, as a leader of people, you will work with your team to enable them to perform to the best of their ability and ensure they have the opportunity to continuously grow and develop their skills. Management of budgets and project timelines also fall within the remit of this role.

What you are already great at:

• Managing the Ceramics Engineering team to provide daily production support.
• Training and mentoring your team on best practice, including on CNC programming, tooling, and jigs/fixture standardisation.
• Driving operational excellence and helping the business to meet its targets by ensuring that manufacturing improvement projects and NPI programs are delivered to plan and within budget whilst maintaining quality.
• Identifying opportunities for process improvement, efficiency enhancement and waste reduction through data analysis, observation and collaboration with production teams, using Lean Manufacturing principles and methodologies to enhance quality and efficiency.
• Developing strategies to optimise resource utilisation and maximise production output to support production capacity requirements based on demand forecasts, sales projections and operational requirements.
• Enhancing resource utilisation and availability of all equipment by implementing cycle time reduction initiatives aimed at optimising production efficiency.
• Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to lead capital projects from conception to completion, including budgeting, timeline management, equipment procurement, installation and commissioning.
• Partnering with Global Product Development to support the successful introduction of new products into manufacturing, including the management and implementation of engineering changes and modifications to existing products, ensuring seamless integration into production processes.
• Developing, writing and optimising CNC programs using CAD / CAM; and taking a hands-on approach in the management of CNC machining, conventional machines, robotics and tool rooms, whilst ensuring quality standards are met.
• Using CAD software to create detailed facility designs and layouts for production facilities, considering workflow, equipment placement, and safety requirements.
• Driving the implementation of yield improvement projects within a six-sigma framework, and leading Failure Analysis (8D).
• Developing and maintaining technical documentation, including product specifications, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s), Process Flow, PFMEA’s, Control Plan, Routings, Engineering Change Notifications, test specification documents, test procedure calibration, and instructional or training materials.

For this role we would need you to demonstrate:

Essential

• Significant relevant experience in managing a Ceramics Engineering team.
• Leadership experience - Materials, Ceramics in Engineering 
• A proven track record in CNC programming, facility design, process improvement and managing projects.
• Experience with design and implementation of new product lines using cellular manufacturing.
• A solid understanding of Lean Methodologies.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and make data-driven decisions.
• Good working knowledge of Visual Management, 5S, SMED, KANBAN, Mix-model flow line, design for manufacturing and assembly.
• Proficiency in CAD/CAM software (e.g. SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Mastercam)
• Proficiency in ERP systems
• Competent in MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint).