Project Director

Exeter

Excellent salary

The role

Our is a major UK advanced manufacturing organisation that is undertaking a significant growth programme within its critical energy generation equipment division — and we’re hiring a Project Director to drive one of the most strategically important expansion projects in the business.

This is a senior, high‑impact role leading the full lifecycle of a major operational expansion programme, working closely with executive leadership and cross‑functional teams to deliver transformational improvements across automation, productivity, and manufacturing capability.

If you’re an experienced project leader with deep manufacturing expertise and a passion for operational excellence, this is a rare opportunity to shape the future of a high‑performance engineering environment.

What You’ll Lead

• Own and deliver the full expansion project for the critical energy generation equipment segment at the Exeter site.
• Develop operational plans aligned with customer expectations, business goals, and annual KPIs.
• Lead automation initiatives, departmental consolidation, and productivity improvements across multiple functions.
• Oversee daily–quarterly reporting to ensure visibility of operational performance.
• Drive improvements in labour utilisation, quality, throughput, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Manage complex manufacturing projects from concept through qualification and training.
• Meet financial objectives through effective budgeting, variance analysis, and corrective action planning.

Leadership

• Lead and mentor a project team, building a culture of accountability, learning, and continuous improvement.
• Maintain strong relationships across engineering, manufacturing, commercial, scheduling, and quality teams.
• Ensure programme goals, scope, and deliverables are clearly defined and communicated.
• Track actions, risks, and progress, providing regular updates to stakeholders.
• Resolve cross‑functional disconnects and drive alignment across the organisation.
• Conduct programme reviews with internal and external stakeholders.

Skills needed

Essential

• Minimum 15 years’ experience in manufacturing, including operational leadership.
• Proven experience leading large‑scale CAPEX projects.
• Strong background in aerospace, metals, or complex manufacturing environments.
• Excellent analytical capability and deep understanding of manufacturing processes.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and team leadership skills.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office and data‑driven tools.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (accredited university).

Preferred

• Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen experience.
• Demonstrated success driving automation and operational excellence.
• Experience working in matrix organisations.
• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Ability to lead technical teams and influence at all levels.