Technical Manager
25 days ago
Weston-super-Mare
Job Title: Manufacturing / Technical Manager Department: Technical, Purchasing & Manufacturing Reports to: Site Managing Director Direct Reports: Department leads and team members across Technical, Purchasing and Manufacturing Role Purpose The Manufacturing/Technical Manager oversees the day-to-day running of the Technical, Purchasing and Manufacturing departments, ensuring products are made safely, legally, on time, to the required quality standard and at the right cost. The role combines technical governance, supply chain control and continuous improvement, translating business priorities and customer requirements into operational plans, clear standards and measurable results. As part of the management team, the postholder is expected to lead by example and keep senior leadership informed of risks and performance. Leadership & Operational Management The postholder provides hands-on leadership across the three functions, chairing departmental meetings and ensuring actions from those meetings are owned and followed through. They build capable teams through clear objectives, coaching, training, performance management and succession planning, and escalate significant risks to senior management promptly, backed by accurate operational data. Technical, Quality & Compliance Responsibilities include managing the Technical department day to day, including CAD design, and maintaining and improving technical standards, specifications and controlled documentation. The role holder ensures products and processes meet all relevant legislation, customer requirements, internal standards and industry accreditations, and oversees inspection, testing, traceability, calibration, non-conformance and change-control processes. They lead investigations into product, process, supplier and customer issues through to root cause and preventive action, and coordinate customer, certification and regulatory audits, ensuring findings close within agreed timescales. They act as the technical authority for customers, suppliers and internal teams evaluating new products, materials and process changes, producing electrical wiring diagrams for manufacturing and service, and writing technical bulletins, setup procedures and test procedures. The role also shapes the product development programme, identifying opportunities to enhance existing products and bring new ones to market, raising and implementing Product Design Change Requests (PDCRs), and pursuing warranty reduction solutions. The postholder maintains the company's technical databases and technical files, circulates technical notes, and ensures all drawings, designs, parts lists and technical/assembly manuals stay current and properly controlled while continuing to identify novel, innovative solutions as technology evolves. Manufacturing Working alongside the Production Manager, the postholder helps ensure the production plan meets customer demand safely, efficiently, on time and to specification. They monitor output, labour, capacity, waste, downtime, quality, cost and on-time delivery, taking corrective action where performance falls short, and maintain robust SOPs, visual controls, shift handovers and production records. Working with Engineering and Maintenance, they drive improvements in equipment availability, reliability and preventative maintenance, and lead productivity, process-control and workplace-organisation initiatives ensuring materials, tooling, equipment and competent people are in place before work begins. Purchasing & Supply Chain Supporting the Purchasing Manager, the postholder helps secure the right materials, services and subcontract support at the right quality, cost and delivery. They set stock policies, reorder controls and forward purchasing plans aligned to demand and capacity, and approve and monitor suppliers against risk, quality, delivery, service and commercial criteria. They lead supplier negotiations and improvement activity balancing total cost, supply continuity and technical risk and identify supply constraints early, putting contingency or dual-sourcing plans in place where needed. Purchase commitments, records and approvals are kept compliant with company controls and delegated authority. Other Areas of Work This includes involvement in plant maintenance and organising repairs, reviewing service reports and proposing solutions and parts quotes, and providing holiday cover for Nigel and James. Health, Safety & Environment The postholder promotes a positive safety culture, ensuring safe systems of work, risk assessments, training and workplace inspections are effective. They ensure incidents, near misses and environmental events are reported, investigated and properly followed up, maintain high standards of housekeeping, waste control and environmental compliance, and have the authority to stop or suspend work where people, product, equipment or the environment are at unacceptable risk. Financial & Commercial Management Responsibilities include preparing and managing departmental budgets, forecasts and capital requests, and controlling manufacturing conversion costs, labour, purchasing spend, inventory, scrap, rework and other operational variances. The postholder supports quotations, make-or-buy decisions and investment appraisals with sound technical and cost input, delivering agreed savings without compromising safety, legality, product conformity or service. Departmental Performance Measures Performance is assessed against: health and safety performance; on-time delivery, schedule adherence, output and lead time; productivity, labour efficiency, equipment effectiveness and downtime; right-first-time quality, scrap, rework, returns and customer complaints; supplier quality, on-time delivery, purchasing savings and supply continuity; inventory accuracy, stock turns and obsolete/excess stock; and budget performance, cost control, employee engagement and development. JBRP1_UKTJ
