Title:  Technical Lead - Fabrication & Welding

Manufacturing Engineer Technical Lead – Fabrication and Welding

Norwich

Permanent

On- site

About the Role:

Lotus is currently looking to recruit an experienced Lead Manufacturing Engineer, who will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of welding, fabrication, and automation processes, within our manufacturing facility.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in engineering principles, with expertise in welding techniques, metal fabrication processes, and automation technologies. The Lead Manufacturing Engineer will play a key role in optimizing production processes, ensuring product quality, and driving continuous improvement initiatives.

This is a critical role, focusing on the Manufacturing Engineering side of Fabrication and Welding. The ideal candidate will report directly into the Head of Manufacturing Engineering and be responsible for a highly skilled team of Manufacturing Engineers.

The successful candidate will support the cars side of the business in the technical management and maintenance of existing production lines and development and introduction of new processes, tooling, and equipment, to support new products to those lines.

This involves the delivery of Industrial Engineering, Infrastructure Design, Manufacturing Methodologies & Risk Analysis activities, as well as being responsible for driving forward the development of the Welding and Fabrication Strategy for Lotus.

The role provides the opportunity to undertake a wide range of tasks and enables the successful candidate to work with many different areas of the business. There will be opportunities to make benefits to the cars business in its day to day activities and also influence the way it will operate in the future.

The focus will be on embracing new technologies and innovations into the Lotus manufacturing environment, to improve both efficiencies and the overall product quality. This will be driven around current and future technologies & automation, to drive production strategies.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Promote and maintain a healthy, safe, and clean working environment.
• Be a champion of the Lotus behaviours.
• Effectively manage the team to ensure effective output, efficiency, and delivery of all day to day and project deliverables.
• Lead the team to continually develop processes and controls, to ensure consistent, effective delivery.
• Production & Project support.
• Support investigations of Concern / Problem resolution
• Responsible for production /engineering / projects with technical input / information pertinent to the areas of  Fabrication and Welding, including, welder competence, weld process validation and compliance.
• Investigate and develop opportunities to embrace new technologies and innovations into the Lotus manufacturing environment, to improve both efficiencies / cost and overall product quality, ensuring robust value for money and return on investment analysis.
• Drive FMEA, DFM, DFA and Control plan functions from a Manufacturing and Process standpoint.
• Identify build issues/concerns and make relevant parties aware. Assist in finding solutions and follow all actions for resolution on the Continuous Improvement tracking system.
• Responsible for the creation of production man-assignments, aligned to manufacturing build requirements.
• Study the operations sequence, material flow, fixturing / tooling, process documents / statements, with the aim of improving line balancing, throughput, and efficient working procedures.
• Responsible for draft and design layout of equipment, materials, and workspace to illustrate maximum efficiency.
• Responsible for the creation / development and maintenance of Process Sheets from engineering released data (PCO).
• Publish clear and concise information, including all aspect of 4 M’s to manufacturing.
• Responsible for co-ordinating "On the Job" training for new processes, with manufacturing staff.
• Perform time studies for all Product / Process / Component changes to ensure manufacturing's ability to achieve to required Quality / Cost / Delivery elements.
• Perform periodic Process Audits, to ensure products are being built to release Manufacturing Engineering information.
• Responsible for the implementation, control, and closure of Deviations, from standard production processes.
• Responsible for new tooling / fixtures design and development / specification and introduction into manufacturing environments.
• Responsible for supporting and the development of Production Metrics including OEE, Scrap, Headcount Utilisation and Hours Per Car.
• Responsible for the population and maintenance of Station Readiness metrics.
• Responsible for Plan /Do / Check / Action all initiatives, tasks and agreed actions, to ensure their full achievement to Launch Plans.
• Adopt a positive approach to coaching and facilitation and supporting manufacturing supervision, to help them successfully achieve the Launch Plan and its objectives.
• Responsible for the estimation of production cost and effect of product design changes for management review, action, and control.
• Responsible for the project management and delivery of Continuous Improvement projects, in-line with the strategic goals of Lotus Advanced Structures.
• Become the Manufacturing Engineering central point of contact with regards to technical knowledge and information (per defined area of expertise) for Engineering BICEP’s, to ensure that all aspects are aligned to overall project needs.
• Where applicable, lead projects assigned to the Manufacturing Engineering department, in order to deliver facilities / equipment / tooling and processes for new model introductions.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience Required:

Essential:

• HNC/HND in Mechanical/Manufacturing or Production Engineering (or similar).
• Previous manufacturing, production engineering knowledge.
• Experienced in welding and fabrication, including certification and weld parameters.
• MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint & Project, use of process systems, logical thinker for problem solving and process planning.
• Used to working in a production environment.
• High level of technical knowledge gained through time served within a respective area of expertise.
• Out-going, pro-active team player.
• Self -motivated & driven to succeed.
• Positive can -do attitude, eye for detail, methodical and measured approach.
• Experienced in managing a multi-disciplined team.

Desirable:

• Degree in Mechanical/Manufacturing or Production Engineering (or similar).
• Lean thinking or six sigma trained.
• Experienced in Laser Cutting and Press brake manufacturing.
• AutoCAD / Catia or other CAD packages.
• MES systems.
• Very good working knowledge of niche vehicle & OEM automotive/aerospace industries.

About Lotus:

Lotus Cars is based in Hethel, Norfolk, UK, and is the global headquarter for sports car and hypercar manufacturing operations, the Lotus Advanced Performance Centre and the iconic 2.2-mile test track.

Lotus builds world-class high-performance cars, born out of legendary success on the racetrack including 13 FIA Formula 1 world titles and many other championship honours. In July 2021 Lotus unveiled the all-new Lotus Emira, its last petrol-powered sports car and best-of-breed, and in July 2019 it launched the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar.

The latest new model from Lotus is the Eletre. Unveiled in March 2022, it has the soul of a sports car and the usability of an SUV. It is pure electric and represents a clear vision of the future ambition of the company.

The ongoing transformation of Lotus, from a UK sports car company to a global performance car business and brand, is laid out in the company’s Vision80 strategy. It states what Lotus will be in 2028 when we celebrate our 80th anniversary. We welcome talented, creative, and motivated people to join us on our journey.

We offer you all the advantages of working for a prestigious high-tech automotive company. You will find a purpose-built facility; with all the tools and equipment you need to do an outstanding job. You will benefit from our fast-paced learning environment and our track record in designing and manufacturing thoroughbred sports cars over the last seven decades.

What We Offer You:

In addition to a competitive salary, you will have access to the following benefits:

• 25 days’ holiday plus bank holidays
• 6% pension contribution 
• Discretionary annual bonus scheme, based on your contribution and the performance of the company
• Private Healthcare
• Group income protection based on length of service
• Paid time off for medical appointments
• Family Friendly policies
• Exclusive Employee discount, wellbeing, and recognition platform #ForUSLOT 

We reserve the right to close this role early if a high volume of applicants is received.