Project Engineer - Manufacturing

Location: Devon
Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience
Working Pattern: Days, Monday to Friday
Job Type: Permanent

The Opportunity

KPI Recruiting are working with an established manufacturing business in Exeter to recruit a Project Engineer to join their engineering team.

This is a varied, hands-on engineering role focused on improving the reliability, availability and performance of manufacturing equipment, while supporting plant improvement and capital projects across the site.

The successful candidate will work closely with the Maintenance and Engineering teams, contractors and wider operations function to deliver engineering projects safely, efficiently and within agreed timescales and budgets.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and manage project plans covering equipment installation, machine moves, plant improvements and cost-reduction projects.
• Identify, specify, source and purchase new machinery, equipment and engineering solutions.
• Manage and supervise contractors, ensuring projects are delivered safely, on time and within budget.
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve manufacturing methods, reliability and operational efficiency.
• Purchase parts and equipment required for improvement projects and maintain appropriate purchasing documentation.
• Carry out plant engineering activities across manufacturing equipment, buildings, services and site infrastructure.
• Analyse equipment performance and provide technical solutions to improve availability and asset utilisation.
• Identify recurring equipment failures and implement improvements to reduce downtime and improve reliability.
• Support the Maintenance team with fault-finding and troubleshooting across the manufacturing plant.
• Drive reliability improvement initiatives across critical plant and equipment.
• Create and maintain technical documentation and equipment files.
• Work closely with Production, Maintenance and Engineering teams to deliver continuous improvement projects.

About You

We are looking for an engineer with practical experience within a manufacturing or industrial engineering environment who enjoys solving problems and delivering tangible improvements.

You will ideally have:

• HNC/HND or equivalent qualification in Mechanical, Electrical, Controls or Engineering.
• Previous experience within a manufacturing, production or industrial engineering environment.
• Experience delivering engineering, plant or equipment improvement projects.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify root causes of recurring reliability issues.
• Experience working with contractors and external suppliers.
• Understanding of equipment reliability, maintenance and continuous improvement.
• Ability to collect and analyse equipment performance/OEE data.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience with CAD, CMMS/ERP systems, automation or Microsoft Project would be advantageous.
• A multi-skilled mechanical and electrical background would be highly desirable.
• Strong communication and organisational skills.

Why Apply?

This is an excellent opportunity for a Project Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer or Reliability Engineer looking to take ownership of projects and make a measurable impact across a busy manufacturing site.

You will have the opportunity to work across capital projects, plant engineering, reliability, continuous improvement and equipment optimisation, making this a varied role rather than a purely maintenance-focused position.

Interested?

If you have experience within manufacturing engineering and are looking for your next opportunity in Exeter, apply today or contact KPI Recruiting - Engineering & Manufacturing Division for more information.

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