Alexander Steele Recruitment
Optimization Engineer
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Optimisation Engineer
Location: Oxfordshire
Salary: £45,000 per annum, plus benefits
Job Type: Full-time, Permanent
Hours:
The Opportunity
I'm working with an exciting Food Manufacturing business that is looking for a qualified Optimisation Engineer to join their Operations team.
This is a fantastic opportunity for an engineer who enjoys being hands-on, data-driven and focused on making a measurable difference across manufacturing performance. You will play a key role in improving efficiency, reliability, quality and cost, using continuous improvement and engineering principles to reduce waste and downtime while increasing throughput and capacity.
Key Responsibilities:
- Analyse production data including OEE, downtime, yield, waste and energy consumption to identify improvement opportunities.
- Lead and support Continuous Improvement / Lean / Six Sigma initiatives.
- Optimise manufacturing processes to improve efficiency, capacity and cost.
- Work closely with Production and Engineering teams to improve equipment reliability and reduce breakdowns.
- Lead Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and implement sustainable corrective actions.
- Support commissioning, validation and optimisation of new equipment and process changes.
- Lead or support CI projects from concept through to implementation and validation.
- Act as a Pillar Lead for Autonomous Maintenance and Progressive Maintenance.
- Play a key role in a major capacity expansion project, including the evaluation of in-line freezing.
- Develop SOPs, best-practice processes and training for operators and engineers.
- Lead projects focused on automation, energy reduction and delivering strong ROI.
- Track and report improvements, savings and project performance.
- Work collaboratively across Production, Quality, Technical, Engineering and Supply Chain.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
What we're looking for:
You'll ideally have:
- A degree or equivalent experience in Engineering – Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, Chemical or similar.
- Minimum 2 years' experience within Food or any FMCG Manufacturing.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and production equipment.
- Experience working with OEE, SPC and manufacturing performance data.
- Experience using CAD packages.
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing / Continuous Improvement methodologies.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving and project management skills.
- The ability to influence and engage shop-floor teams.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Desirable but not essential:
- Six Sigma Green Belt or higher.
- Advanced Excel / Power BI experience.
- Experience in temperature-controlled food manufacturing.
- Automation, PLC or process control experience.
- Knowledge of BRC, HACCP or ISO 22000.
- Previous project management experience.
Why Apply?
This is an opportunity to join a fast-moving Food Manufacturing environment where you can have a genuine impact on manufacturing performance. You'll be working on significant improvement and capacity projects, including high-ROI automation and energy reduction initiatives, while helping to build a stronger culture of operational excellence.
If you're a proactive engineer who enjoys solving problems, improving processes and seeing the results of your work on the shop floor, this could be an excellent next career move.
Interested? Call Giuseppe Leo directly on 07857 348079 or email him at Giuseppe.Leo@alexandersteele.com to arrange a confidential conversation.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills