Quality Engineer – Product Lifecycle Management

PLM | Teamcenter | Automotive | Gaydon | Up to £60,000

There aren't many Quality Engineering roles where you can see the end product of the systems you're testing driving past you on the road.

And there are even fewer where that product belongs to one of the world's most recognisable automotive brands.

I'm supporting an iconic British automotive manufacturer, known globally for combining engineering, performance and design, as they continue a major transformation of the technology behind how their cars are designed and built.

They're bringing more of their technology capability in-house, growing their Quality Engineering function and looking for a Quality Engineer, specialising in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

This is an opportunity to work behind the scenes of a brand most people instantly recognise, helping modernise the engineering systems used to take a car from design through to manufacture.

The challenge

At the heart of the programme is a major transformation of their PLM landscape, centred around Siemens Teamcenter and its integration with Infor LN ERP.

These aren't peripheral business systems.

They're used throughout the engineering lifecycle, supporting around 1,000 engineers across CAD and Teamcenter and underpinning the product data, structures and processes involved in designing and ultimately building the finished car.

That makes Quality Engineering particularly important.

And it also makes this quite different from a traditional testing role.

What you'll actually be doing

They're not looking for someone to sit behind a screen executing test cases all day.

They need someone who understands the manufacturing product lifecycle and can operate as the bridge between engineering, manufacturing, IT, suppliers and the wider transformation programme.

You'll take ownership of quality across areas including:

• Siemens Teamcenter / PLM
  
• CAD integrations
  
• PLM ↔ ERP integrations
  
• Data migration and validation
  
• EBOM, MBOM and SBOM structures
  
• Engineering change processes
  
• Functional and integration testing
  
• UAT with engineering stakeholders
  
• Defect, risk and readiness management
  

You'll be joining the dots between those different workstreams, making sure that what's being delivered actually works for the engineers who rely on it.

What we're looking for

Manufacturing PLM experience is the important bit.

Teamcenter would obviously be ideal, but we're equally interested in people who've worked extensively with another major PLM platform and genuinely understand the processes behind it.

You'll need to be comfortable talking about things like:

• Product development lifecycles
  
• BOM structures
  
• CAD / PLM integrations
  
• Engineering change
  
• Data migration and integrity
  
• PLM / ERP / manufacturing integrations
  

But technical knowledge alone won't be enough.

This is a highly stakeholder-facing role.

You'll be working with engineers, manufacturing teams, IT, Business Analysts and third-party suppliers, so you need to be someone who can understand the technical detail, ask the right questions and bring different groups of people together.

That's really what they're looking for.

Why join now?

There's a wider transformation happening across technology.

After years of relying heavily on external suppliers, the business is bringing more capability in-house and building its own digital function.

Quality Engineering is a significant part of that investment.

For the right person, it's an opportunity to join while that capability is still being shaped – and to work on a major transformation programme at the heart of how an iconic British automotive brand designs and builds its cars.

The formal JD also highlights progression towards Test Manager/Senior BA, reflecting the scope to develop beyond the initial role.

Location & package

The role is based in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

Officially it's a hybrid position, with an expectation of around two days per week on site. There's some flexibility around that, although you should expect to spend more time on site initially while you get to know the programme, systems and engineering stakeholders.

Salary: up to £60,000

Benefits include:

• 26 days holiday
  
• Pension up to 12% employer contribution
  
• Employee vehicle lease scheme after probation (a genuinely superb scheme that makes leasing a vehicle incredibly cost-effective)
  
• Benefits and discount platform
  
• Career development within a growing internal technology function
  

Interview process

Two stages.

The first interview includes a senior BA from the PLM programme, so expect a proper conversation about the engineering and PLM environments you've worked in rather than a generic testing interview.

Final stage with Head of QE and a Technology Director - more details will be provided at the appropriate time.