Development Manufacturing Engineer

Step into a hands-on, career-boosting role as a Development Manufacturing Engineer, where your ideas directly improve product designs, prototype builds, and real-world manufacturability. This position sits at the heart of the manufacturing and engineering team, combining technical creativity with practical problem-solving to help deliver robust, cost-effective products. If you enjoy making complex work feel achievable, the Development Manufacturing Engineer job offers real momentum, meaningful collaboration, and a clear route to impact across R&D.

What You Will Do:

• Ensure designs are suitable for manufacture by influencing development from early concept through prototype sign-off as a Development Manufacturing Engineer.
• Identify component geometry, tolerance, and standardisation opportunities to improve repeatability and manufacturability.
• Tackle manufacturing, assembly, tooling, and material challenges during early product development and recommend practical solutions.
• Lead R&D initiative projects, keeping deadlines on track, stakeholders engaged, and progress clearly communicated as a Development Manufacturing Engineer.
• Support design-for-manufacture work, including DFMEA reviews, and capture manufacturing lessons learned for future iterations.
• Work closely with Production Engineering and wider functions to help designs align with continuous improvement, cost reduction, and quality goals.

What You Will Bring:

• A degree or equivalent qualification in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline, plus strong design-for-manufacture foundations.
• Confident ability to interpret and produce engineering drawings and specifications, alongside experience working with 3D CAD and 2D technical drawings.
• Strong knowledge of sheet metal manufacturing processes, materials, tolerances, and how these influence product design.
• Experience within manufacturing environments, with the ability to spot manufacturing risks early in development.
• Clear project management and communication skills, with a proactive approach and confidence building effective working relationships.

This Development Manufacturing Engineer role plays a vital part in building technically robust products that are designed to be efficient, repeatable, and cost-effective. By improving manufacturability and supporting quality and continuous improvement initiatives, you help the business deliver better outcomes for customers and strengthen long-term engineering excellence.

Location:

The Development Manufacturing Engineer role is based in Exeter, supporting R&D activity and prototype development in a manufacturing-focused environment.

Interested?:

If the Development Manufacturing Engineer job sounds like the next step for our next challenge, apply now and take the opportunity to shape designs that work brilliantly on the shop floor.

Your CV will be forwarded to Jonathan Lee Recruitment, a leading engineering and manufacturing recruitment consultancy established in 1978. The services advertised by Jonathan Lee Recruitment are those of an Employment Agency.

In order for your CV to be processed effectively, please ensure your name, email address, phone number and location (post code OR town OR county, as a minimum) are included

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