Plant Support Engineer Stevenage Placement (13 months)

Location: Stevenage, United Kingdom. The role is based at the Stevenage site; hybrid working options may be available depending on the role.

Salary: £24,500 per year

Company

hirify.global Defence and Space develops and delivers spacecraft and aerospace systems, with the Industrial Management Team focused on manufacturing efficiency and operational excellence.

What you will do

• Support the Industrial Management team and product owners in defining and delivering a 12-month site improvement plan.
• Identify opportunities to reduce the MAIT cost base and ready-for-bid price across mechanical platforms, antennas, mechanisms, and electronics.
• Develop production dashboards and KPI visualisations to improve industrial efficiency.
• Coordinate multi-project oversight, facility footprint, and resource utilisation.
• Implement the Operational Excellence System and deliver Lean improvement projects involving 5S, visual management, value-stream mapping, flow analysis, and KPIs.
• Drive problem-solving activities, standardise Lean processes, and report project cost and schedule status across Stevenage and Portsmouth.

Requirements

• Undergraduate student status is mandatory for the full 13-month placement.
• Studying Mechanical, Manufacturing, or Industrial Engineering, Electrical/RF, Project Management, or Health and Safety.
• Understanding of practical problem solving, Kaizen workshops, and visual management in production and office environments.
• Experience with improvement projects and some knowledge of coding and scripting.
• Good communication skills, creativity, proactivity, and an open-minded approach.
• Successful candidates will undergo a BPSS check and may need UK SC-level security clearance or export-control approval.

Culture & Benefits

• 37-hour working week with flexible working hours.
• Half-day Fridays subject to completing the full weekly hours.
• 25 days of holiday plus bank holidays.
• Collaboration with industrial teams across the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.
• Opportunities to share Lean expertise and best practices across hirify.global manufacturing sites.

Hiring process

• Applications must include a CV and a cover letter explaining motivation and suitability.
• Applicants should provide their expected graduation date.
• Applications close on 25 October 2026.