Continuous Improvement Enginer

Continuous Improvement Engineer – Design and Test

Portsmouth, Hampshire

Contract Type: Full‑time, Permanent, On Site

We are seeking a Continuous Improvement Engineer to play a pivotal, hands-on role within our Design and Test organisation. This is a high-impact opportunity to lead Lean transformation in a complex, innovative development and qualification environment, shaping how new products are designed, tested, qualified and scaled.

You will be responsible for embedding Lean and Continuous Improvement thinking across Design and Test, improving safety, quality, delivery and efficiency while eliminating waste. A core focus of the role is people development—coaching, mentoring and training engineers and technicians to become confident problem solvers who apply CI methods to both product and process development, as well as physical test operations.

Working closely with colleagues across Test, Design, Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality and HSE, you will have broad exposure and real influence across multiple value streams. You will lead and facilitate CI activities such as Kaizen workshops, value stream mapping, Gemba assessments and 5S, ensuring improvements are documented, shared and sustained. You will also apply structured problem-solving approaches (e.g. 5 Whys, DMAIC, 8D) to complex technical and operational challenges.

We are looking for a technically grounded CI professional with significant experience deploying Lean in an engineering, testing or manufacturing environment, and a proven ability to coach and develop others. A strong safety mindset and confidence working in high-risk test environments are essential.

What you’ll bring:

• A degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Materials Science or a related technical discipline

• Strong Lean and Continuous Improvement expertise

• Coaching, mentoring and change leadership capability

• Structured, data-driven problem-solving skills

• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement

Experience applying Lean in a development or test environment, knowledge of test rigs or fixtures, SMED, or digitalisation of test workflows would be advantageous.

This role involves a mix of office and test facility work, occasional travel, where strict adherence to safety procedures and operational discipline is critical.

If you are passionate about Continuous Improvement, people development and making a measurable impact in an advanced engineering environment, we would welcome your application.