Project Engineer in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Project Engineer – Transport

Location — Milton Keynes

Salary — Up to £60,000

Employment — Full-time, permanent

Work arrangement — Office-based

Hours — 07:00–15:00, with flexibility on start and finish times and a lunchtime finish on Fridays

Role overview

Provide technical leadership for vehicle refurbishment and modification projects, ensuring they are delivered safely, within budget and in line with technical requirements.

Act as the technical point of contact for assigned projects and coordinate communication between engineering teams, suppliers and customers. Review specifications, support their implementation in production, and manage engineering changes and technical documentation.

The role requires attention to detail, strong technical problem-solving skills and the ability to interpret drawings and schematics, write technical documents and follow agreed procedures. Commercial awareness is important when reviewing scopes of work against contractual requirements and supporting bids.

Responsibilities

• Provide engineering support to resolve technical issues in production and operations.

• Review scopes of work, drawings, specifications and technical documentation for accuracy and compliance.

• Ensure refurbished and modified vehicles meet technical requirements and applicable transport industry standards.

• Coordinate project activities across engineering, operations, procurement and quality.

• Support procurement by assessing material requirements and working with suppliers.

• Mobilise new projects with relevant teams to ensure technical requirements are addressed.

• Control engineering changes on assigned projects and coordinate with customers and third parties.

• Support production teams in improving quality, increasing efficiency and reducing costs.

• Carry out risk assessments and investigate incidents.

• Control, review and update project documentation.

• Support estimating for new contracts, including conducting vehicle surveys.

Education and experience

• HNC, HND, degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant engineering discipline.

• Transport industry experience is advantageous.

• Confident using Microsoft Office applications.

A Project Engineer helps make sure train upgrades and refurbishments are done safely, within budget, and to the customer’s requirements. They’re the main contact for technical questions and work with the customer, workshop teams and suppliers to solve problems.

What you’d do

• Set up new projects. Read the customer’s requirements and make sure the workshop, purchasing and quality teams know what needs to happen before work starts.

• Check drawings and instructions. Make sure technical documents are accurate, clear and meet the relevant railway standards.

• Solve workshop problems. If a part doesn’t fit or a drawing is unclear, work with the right people to agree a solution.

• Manage changes. If the design, parts or agreed work needs to change, coordinate the approval with the customer and anyone else involved. Update the drawings and records so everyone works from the latest version.

• Help choose parts and materials. Check that what suppliers offer meets the project’s technical requirements.

• Check safety and quality. Assess risks before work goes ahead, investigate incidents and look for ways to reduce mistakes, rework and costs.

• Help price future jobs. Inspect trains, work out what needs doing and help estimate the labour and materials needed for a quote.

What you’d need

• An HNC, HND, degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant engineering subject.

• The ability to read engineering drawings and schematics, write clear technical documents and follow agreed procedures.

• Rail experience is helpful, but the advert doesn’t list it as essential.

• Confidence with Microsoft Office. In practice, that could mean using Word to write reports and instructions, Excel to track parts, costs or actions, and Outlook to handle emails and meetings.