Technical Specialist - Product Development

The Vacancy

The Product Design and Development Specialist Role is a strategic role focused on developing, implementing and promoting current and new practices in Product Design to solve complex problems for the MTC, and for our industrial members and customers.

The successful applicant will be an essential leadership presence within the MTC’s engineering function. The role requires collaboration with stakeholders (internal and external to the MTC) to identify how to apply design thinking and other engineering design tools and methodologies to solve challenges faced by the UK manufacturing industry, to articulate the product development proposition offered by the MTC, and to foster adoption and dissemination of this capability both internally and externally to the MTC.

You will also provide support to the delivery of projects and supporting the development of project related activities across the MTC, working across various technology departments and industrial sectors to provide leadership and governance.

Main Responsibilities:

• Act as the owner of the product development strategy within the MTC Technology Group – collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to develop thought leadership in this field, and to maximise the impact that design thinking and other engineering design tools and methodologies can have on the UK manufacturing industry.
• Be a key figure within the engineering function, effectively collaborating with colleagues to embed a world class technical standard of work within product development portfolio of projects
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to successfully achieve technical deliverables on large projects – this will include providing guidance and governance across the design lifecycle including concept generation, detailed design, prototyping and ensuring compliance with all relevant standards, technical support of commissioning and an awareness of project budget and deliverables
• Undertaking innovative Engineering research work focused primarily on technology/manufacturing readiness levels (TRL/MRL) 3+
• Contributing to the identification, technical specification and delivery of new and novel technology capability into the MTC, customers, or industrial member’s premises.

Person Specification

Essential Skills/Qualifications/Experience

• Degree, or equivalent experience in mechanical design engineering/ product design engineering/ industrial design, or related discipline
• Excellent interpersonal, collaboration and organisational skills, including influencing without authority, radical candour, and a growth mindset
• Values and fosters a culture of inclusion and psychological safety, celebrating success, and coaching and mentoring – formally or otherwise
• Demonstrable industrial experience in the following areas:
• Use of critical thinking, design thinking or other design methodologies and approaches to generate product design and development solutions
• NPD (new product development) and NPI (new product introduction)
• Technical project management such as appropriate resourcing, balancing cost, and scope management. Able to demonstrate an understanding of how to manage and mitigate design risks and explain the implication of decisions on project requirements
• Working in partnership with stakeholders to develop innovative design solutions to complex problems with ambiguity
• Creating technical specifications and design requirement documentation in the context of product design and development
• Horizon scanning of technologies and methods, and how they might be applied to solving industrial problems across a range of industrial sectors
• Engaging with new or existing customers to win repeat business
• Mentoring colleagues to support their professional development
• A varied portfolio of engineering product design and development work across different industries and sectors

Desirable Skills/Qualifications/Experience

• There is an aspiration that the successful applicant will be a key figure and voice in the MTC and across HVMC and industry in thought leadership in design thinking and product development -communicating a longer-term vision for the future of ‘Product development in the UK industrial landscape’
• Demonstrable industrial experience in the following areas:
• Designing and facilitating workshops to understand user needs
• Demonstrable contribution to thought leadership in your industry – for example, presentation at conferences, contribution to white papers etc.
• Demonstratable knowledge of manufacturing methods such as injection moulding, thermoforming, fabrication, machining, or laser cutting
• Familiar with various prototyping techniques to demonstrate concepts throughout the design cycle, these range from aesthetic or low-fidelity prototypes to pre-production

What We Offer You

• Option to buy or sell up to a week’s holiday, plus long service holidays
• Fully Flexible working offering
• Wellbeing hub incl. Vitality PMI, access to Wellbeing champions
• Corporate Discounts e.g. up to 50% selected gyms
• Financial support for Professional memberships
• Professional development opportunities
• Opportunities to join and create clubs/societies
• Enhanced family leave
• Group Income Protection
• Life Assurance
• Company Pension Scheme and access to pension advice

Please note we may close this vacancy earlier than the planned expiry date should we receive suitable applications.

About The MTC

For more information, please see the job description attached.

The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is an internationally renowned and respected research and development organisation, bridging the gap between academia and manufacturing, and is home to some of the brightest minds in engineering from around the globe.

The MTC's engineers, scientists and technicians work with some of the most advanced manufacturing equipment in the world in a supportive and collegiate environment for the development and demonstration of new technologies on an industrial scale, helping manufacturers of all sizes develop new and innovative processes and technologies.

Established to prove cutting edge manufacturing advances in an agile environment in partnership with industry, academia and other institutions, the MTC works with hundreds of industrial clients across a range of sectors including automotive, aerospace, rail, informatics, food and drink, infrastructure, construction and civil engineering, electronics, oil and gas and defence. The MTC helps businesses thrive by advancing their technological and engineering capabilities to improve their business efficiency, capability and competitiveness.

Supported by one of the largest public sector investments in UK Manufacturing, the MTC's engineering capabilities cover research and development, advanced manufacturing management, factory design and training for the skills of the future.

The MTC has world-class facilities in Coventry, Liverpool and Oxford, and is part of the UK's High Value Manufacturing Catapult, supported by Innovate UK.

Reference Checks and Security Checks (where applicable)

Due to the nature of our business, all employment is subject to satisfactory references being obtained alongside a level of security clearance checks.