Engineering Manager Overview

This Engineering Manager vacancy is a key leadership hire for a highly technical, precision-engineering business based in South Yorkshire. This role is a pragmatic, leadership position in a small business environment with a focus on empowering the team to work with autonomy and self-accountability, whilst working together as a team.

The Engineering Manager will take responsibility for the day-to-day leadership of several functions, while remaining hands-on and closely connected to production, projects, and customers. The role sits at the centre of the business, acting as the technical anchor between engineering, manufacturing, planning and leadership. You will help drive a year of growth for the company, improving capability, confidence and consistency across engineering, without adding unnecessary process or bureaucracy. This is a pragmatic, hands-on Engineering Manager role, well suited to someone from a strong mechanical engineering background who enjoys balancing leadership with technical involvement in a small-business environment.

Engineering Manager Key Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and develop a small, multi-disciplinary engineering and design team
• Provide clear technical direction, guidance and challenge across all engineering activities
• Drive consistency and best practice across design, engineering and planning processes
• Support workload planning, prioritisation and delivery across multiple projects

• Oversee engineering input into product delivery, ensuring designs are robust, manufacturable and commercially viable
• Work closely with production and shop-floor teams to ensure smooth handover from design to manufacture
• Support project delivery through technical oversight, risk management and problem solving
• Ensure engineering output aligns with customer, commercial and business requirements

• Take responsibility for elements of building, ISO, and Health & Safety related duties across the business, helping embed a strong safety culture
• Oversee building maintenance, assets and infrastructure
• Manage external contractors and service providers (utilities, servicing, maintenance) in line with HSE requirements

 Engineering Manager Background & Experience

The ideal candidate will come from a hands-on mechanical engineering background, with experience stepping into leadership while staying technically credible.

• Mechanical Engineering, Design Engineering, Product Engineering or similar
• Designing precision mechanical components and assemblies could be beneficial
• Working within an OEM or manufacturing-led environment
• Working knowledge of ISO standards, risk assessments and quality systems
• Active involvement or strong awareness of HSE responsibilities within an engineering or manufacturing setting

Skills & Attributes

• Strong technical credibility with the ability to guide, mentor and challenge engineers whilst also being a representative voice for them around plans, risks and opportunities
• A mentor with strong leadership skills that can encourage autonomous working whilst instilling strong self-accountability
• Confident people manager with good emotional intelligence
• Comfortable operating in a smaller, close-knit business
• Commercially aware and able to advise both customers and senior management
• Structured but pragmatic approach to priorities, projects and problem-solving
•  Willing to be hands-on where needed, without losing sight of the bigger picture