We're looking for a Custom Solutions (CS) Manufacturing Manager, you’ll lead the production of high-quality Custom Solutions (CS) assemblies at our Bristol facility, ensuring exceptional performance and zero customer disappointments. Reporting to the Innovations Director, you will oversee day-to-day operations, drive continuous improvement, and ensure compliance with Swagelok Quality System (SQS), ISO 9001, and internal standards.
You’ll play a key role in shaping our manufacturing processes—optimising production planning, resource allocation, and lean workflows. Beyond operations, you'll lead and develop a skilled team of fabricators through hands-on coaching, training, and mentoring, supporting scalability and long-term growth.
Location: Bristol
Salary: £ Competitive
Reporting to: Innovations Director
Department: Manufacturing
Full time
Key responsibilities
Customer fulfilment
Define, monitor, and deliver daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual targets/objectives, including personnel development, efficiency, profitability, and sales.
Ensure on-time delivery of all customer orders as scheduled, escalating any deviations to the Innovations Director.
Validate completed jobs to confirm that the profitability of shipped assemblies/systems meets agreed-upon levels when quoted.
Technical competency
Apply knowledge of product design, assembly, tooling, and materials to establish manufacturing concerns and provide feedback to the technical team.
Quality (policies & procedures)
Assure product and process quality by complying with SQS-D and ISO 9001 standards. Confirm and establish procedures around current SOPs, assembly inspections, testing methods, tooling maintenance, and non-conformances.
Ensure that change control processes are managed and followed.
Take responsibility for achieving personal ARD goals/targets.
Health & safety
Maintain responsibility for personal and CS associates’ Health and Safety, ensuring compliance with relevant policies and practices.
Associate appraisals & developments
Conduct timely performance appraisals (PDPs) for direct reports, using clear metrics and objectives.
Provide ongoing feedback and coaching to address performance gaps and encourage skill enhancement.
Collaborate with HR and SLT to identify talent gaps and succession needs, ensuring a robust talent pipeline.
Encourage professional growth by recommending training programs, courses, or certifications aligned with career paths.
Foster an environment of open communication, recognition, and continuous improvement to maintain high associate engagement and retention.
Address any associate issues or concerns proactively, referring to HR where necessary.
Representation
Continually develop strong relationships with Swagelok Corporate associates to positively reflect on Swagelok Bristol and support corporate business objectives.
Understand Swagelok’s history and culture, representing the Organisation’s values and ethos professionally in all interactions.
Skills and experience required
Qualifications | Essential
Minimum of 5 years’ of relevant experience
Proven success with process, project or business management.
HND in technical discipline or business experience of communicating to broad spread of job functions and levels of seniority / responsibility.
Qualifications | Preferred
Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant discipline.
Management & leadership qualifications
Knowledge of standard project planning tools.
Manufacturing process improvement experience.
Trained in office productivity tools i.e. MS Office, CRM etc.
Experience | Essential
Strong leadership capabilities and change management experience.
Working knowledge of customer systems and ability converse at a technical level to establish customer need.
Presence combined with presentation skills.
Able to juggle multiple tasks with deftness and attention to deadlines.
Ability to read and interpret CAD/P&ID drawings.
Highly comfortable with SAP, HubSpot and SharePoint systems.
Experience | Preferred
Experience of working with technically diverse team members.
Experience of participating in or running business development projects.
Skills/Knowledge | Essential
Business and financial acumen allowing for profitability and pricing analysis.
Ability to work under pressure to strict deadlines.
Ability to manage resource effectively.
Ability to analyse processes and procedures to implement continuous improvements.
Good application, market and industry knowledge.
Good communications skills, both written and verbal.
Skills/Knowledge | Preferred
Knowledge of competitors and our differentiable values
Supply chain management and costing mechanisms therein.
Ability to analyse working practices and establish working efficiencies and true costs / profitability.
Apply Now
To apply for this position, please submit your CV by clicking the Apply now button.
What we offer
Competitive salary
EE/ER DV Pension
26 days holidays + bank holidays
Health cover
Critical illness cover
Life insurance
Eligibility for the company bonus scheme
Why join us
At Swagelok Central, we’re committed to delivering quality, innovation, and excellent service. You’ll join a supportive, forward-thinking team where your creativity can thrive and make a genuine impact. We offer a collaborative culture, ongoing development opportunities, and the chance to help shape how we communicate with our customers and our team
Our values
Integrity - Choose to do the right thing with courage and character
Quality - Provide high value performance in our products, processes and services
Innovation - Challenge conventional wisdom to create new value for the customer
Continuous improvement - Systematically and consistently do things better
Customer focus - Create value for the customer to create value for Swagelok
Respect for the individual - Commit to the success of each associate through an environment where people are trusted, respected and treated fairly
