Mechanical Engineer – CNC Manufacturing & CAD/CAM Automation

What You'll Do Drive CNC Manufacturing Automation

Develop and enhance manufacturing standards, automation logic, and workflows for CNC machining across milling, turning, and secondary operations.

Translate real-world machining expertise into scalable software requirements, engineering rules, algorithms, and product capabilities.

Design automated solutions for:

Manufacturability analysis

Feature recognition

Machining strategy selection

Fixture planning

Tolerance and risk detection

Cycle time estimation

Cost estimation and quoting logic

Build scalable process planning frameworks for a wide range of materials, geometries, and production volumes.

Improve Digital Manufacturing Processes

Review CAD models, engineering drawings, and technical specifications to identify manufacturability risks and automation opportunities.

Standardize CNC machining best practices and convert engineering knowledge into reusable digital workflows.

Support development and validation of CAD/CAM workflows, post-process logic, machine capability mapping, and automated process recommendations.

Collaborate with manufacturing partners to benchmark capabilities, define process limits, and improve consistency across production sites.

Analyse manufacturing data to identify bottlenecks, process variation, and improvement opportunities.

Partner with Cross-functional Teams

Work closely with software engineers and product managers to develop manufacturing intelligence solutions.

Participate in testing and validation of software features related to CAM automation and CNC process planning.

Document engineering standards, technical decisions, and process assumptions for technical and business stakeholders.

Contribute to the long-term strategy for digital manufacturing and manufacturing automation.

What It Takes Technical Expertise

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related discipline.

10+ years of experience in CNC manufacturing, machining process engineering, or manufacturing automation.

Strong expertise in:

3-axis and 5-axis CNC milling

Turning and Mill-Turn machining

Workholding and fixturing

Tool selection and process parameter optimisation

GD&T and tolerance analysis

Material behaviour and machining trade-offs

Hands-on experience with CAD/CAM platforms such as Fusion 360, Mastercam, Siemens NX, SolidCAM, hyperMILL, ESPRIT, or equivalent.

Strong understanding of Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA).

Experience translating engineering knowledge into structured workflows, decision logic, automation rules, or software requirements.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to balance manufacturability, quality, cost, and production efficiency.

Collaboration & Communication

Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Experience working with cross-functional engineering, software, product, and operations teams.

Ability to drive standardisation and scalable engineering solutions across distributed manufacturing environments.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in digital manufacturing, distributed manufacturing, or online quoting platforms.

Knowledge of feature recognition, geometric analysis, model-based definition, or manufacturability algorithms.

Exposure to software development environments and collaboration with software engineering teams.

Experience with engineering automation using Python, VBA, JavaScript, Macro B, or CAD/CAM APIs.

Knowledge of machining economics, cycle time modelling, automated quoting, and production scaling.

Experience creating engineering standards across supplier networks or multi-site manufacturing operations.