Engineering Vacancies

Engineering recruitment: the engineers your next stage of growth depends on.

Defence, marine, nuclear and advanced manufacturing are all investing in the South West, and every new line, contract or site needs engineers who can make it work. The best of them are already in work and rarely looking. We find them, and we make the introduction.

Cathedral Appointments is a recruitment agency based in Exeter, with a presence in Plymouth and Taunton. We have been finding engineers for South West manufacturers and technical businesses since 1988, on permanent and contract terms, and we take the time to understand the machine, the process and the standard first.

Talk to Dan Martin on 01392 575697.

What we recruit

Engineering covers the people who design, maintain, test and deliver what South West businesses make. Cathedral Appointments recruits across it. Production and operations managers, and quality and health and safety specialists, sit on our Manufacturing & Production page.

• Maintenance and service. Maintenance engineers and technicians, maintenance supervisors and coordinators, shift engineers, and service, installation and commissioning engineers. The ones who keep the line moving.
• Design and development. Mechanical, electrical and electronics design engineers, designers, CAD technicians, product developers and R&D engineers. The ones who make the product better.
• Test and applications. Applications engineers, production test engineers and production engineers. The ones who make sure it works, and works for the customer.
• Machine tooling. Toolmakers, CNC setters and machine tooling specialists. The ones who make the tooling the work depends on.
• Projects. Project managers, technical project managers and engineering coordinators in engineering and manufacturing businesses. The ones who bring the work in on time.
• Leadership and management. Engineering managers, technical managers and heads of engineering. The ones who run the function.

Senior and leadership roles

Engineering businesses need leaders as well as engineers, and Cathedral Appointments recruits them. These searches are often confidential.

• Engineering and technical leadership. Heads of engineering, engineering directors and technical directors.
• Operations and general management. Operations directors, general managers and managing directors of manufacturing businesses.

Talk to Dan Martin on 01392 575697

What’s shaping engineering hiring

Three things are shaping who employers need, and how they hire.

Engineering is hiring, and more people are looking. The KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs, published on 7 September 2026, found permanent vacancies rising in engineering during August, one of only two of the ten sectors it tracks where they did, and the number of people seeking new employment rising at the sharpest rate for three months. Employers have more choice than they did, but the best engineers are rarely the ones looking.

Manufacturers are cautious, but investment is coming. Make UK’s Manufacturing Outlook for the third quarter of 2026 found hiring slowing, with the employment balance down to +3% from +15% the quarter before, and live manufacturing vacancies at 57,000, or 2.0 per 100 jobs, against about 1.8 before the pandemic and a peak of 4.0 in late 2022. Make UK puts the caution down to employment costs. The same survey’s balance for investment over the next 12 months rose to +15% from +8%.

Employment law is changing. Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, statutory sick pay became payable from the first day of absence in April 2026, and the time limit for tribunal claims rose from three to six months on 1 October 2026. The qualifying period for unfair dismissal is due to fall from two years to six months from 1 January 2027. Getting the first hire right, or seeing someone in the role before you commit, matters more.

Permanent first, with specialists when you need them

Permanent. Most of our engineering work is permanent hiring, for the people you want to grow with. We search, screen and shortlist, and you only meet people we’d put forward ourselves.

Contract. An experienced project lead or specialist for a defined project, on terms agreed with you at the start.

Who we recruit for

Recent engineering hires have been made by:

• Packaging and printing producers
• Medical device and plastics manufacturers
• Electronics and test equipment makers
• Heating, cooling and industrial products manufacturers
• Boat builders and marine engineering firms
• Engineering and environmental services businesses
• Estates and visitor attractions that need health and safety expertise

How we find the right engineer

The best engineers are rarely browsing. We go to them.

We speak engineer. We ask about the machines, the process and the standards, not just the job title, so we understand what the role really needs.

We start with you. Your site, your team and your next three years, before we start looking.

We screen before we share. Every candidate you meet has been interviewed by us first.

We help you define the role. If you have not hired for it before, we’ll help you work out what it should be, and what it should pay.

What moves pay

Pay in engineering varies with the discipline and the sector. The big factors are qualifications and professional registration (a degree, an HNC or HND, an apprenticeship or chartership), hands-on experience of your equipment, controls and processes, the level of responsibility, on-call and shift patterns, how much travel the role involves (service and commissioning especially), where the site is and how far people will travel, and whether the role can be hybrid. Contract rates move with the project. If you are about to advertise, ask Dan for a benchmark for your role.

Questions we get asked

Do I need an engineer or a technician? Technicians are usually hands-on: they maintain, diagnose and repair, often with an apprenticeship or a technical qualification. Engineers design, analyse and solve problems, usually with a degree. Many manufacturers need someone between the two, so we start from the work.

How do I hire for a role I have never filled before? Talk to Dan before you write an advert. A short conversation about the work usually shows what the role is, what it should pay and where the right people are.

Do you recruit production managers, quality or health and safety specialists, or software engineers? Production, operations, quality and health and safety roles sit on our Manufacturing & Production page, and software and technology roles on our IT and Tech page. Dan covers all three, so one call is enough.

Do engineering roles work hybrid? Design, applications, test and project roles often can, at least part of the week. Maintenance, service, commissioning and toolmaking roles are on site by nature. If you are open to hybrid working, say so in the brief: it widens the pool of people we can approach.

Your contact

Dan Martin, Senior Consultant.

Dan leads our engineering and manufacturing team and works with engineering and manufacturing leaders across Devon, Somerset & Cornwall.

Dan Martin: 01392 575697 | dan@cathedralappointments.co.uk