Engineering Project and Programme Recruitment
Engineering and technical appointments within advanced manufacturing.
Engineering projects succeed or fail on the people running them. The best project and programme managers combine technical credibility with grip on cost, time and customers. Core Search finds them and helps you secure them.
Roles we recruit
Project Engineers
Technical ownership of projects from specification through design, build, installation and handover.
Project Managers
Delivering engineering projects on time and on budget, managing customers, suppliers and risk.
Programme Managers
Running multiple projects or major programmes and reporting to customers and senior leadership.
NPI Programme Managers
Leading new product introduction through stage gates, from concept to stable production.
Capital Project Engineers
Planning and delivering new plant, equipment, facilities and site improvement projects.
Project Planners and Controllers
Schedules, cost control, reporting and project governance.
Methods and tools we search for
We search across every common method and tool. If your projects run on it, we can find people who know it.
Methods and qualifications
APM, PRINCE2, PMP and MSP, stage-gate and APQP programme management, Agile and hybrid approaches, and earned value management.
Planning tools
Microsoft Project, Primavera P6, Smartsheet, Jira, Asana and Power BI reporting.
Commercial and technical
Customer-facing delivery, contracts and change control, budgets and margin, risk management, and technical understanding of the product being delivered.
Why these hires are hard
Many project managers can run a plan. Fewer can hold their own with engineers, customers and suppliers at the same time, and those people rarely need to apply for jobs.
Project roles also vary widely, from customer-funded programmes to internal capital projects, and a title alone tells you little about whether someone fits.
How we search
- We challenge the specification where it narrows the pool without adding value. For example, we ask whether a formal qualification matters more than a track record of delivering similar projects.
- We map the local market before we start, so you know how many people fit and what they earn.
- We headhunt directly, including delivery leads in adjacent sectors with comparable projects.
- We test real delivery before you meet anyone: project size, budgets owned, customers managed and what went wrong and how they fixed it.
- We manage the offer and the counter-offer, so a good process does not fall over at the last step.
Who we work with
Machine builders and integrators, aerospace and defence manufacturers, automotive and motorsport suppliers, and manufacturers investing in new plant, across Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and the UK.
Questions
Do you recruit heads of programmes and PMO leads?
Yes. Senior delivery appointments are handled through our leadership search service.
How quickly can you shortlist?
For most roles, we share a market view within days and a shortlist within two weeks. Rare skills take longer.
What areas do you cover?
Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and the wider Midlands are our base, and we recruit nationally.
Need a project engineer or programme manager?
Tell us what you are trying to hire and we will tell you honestly what the market looks like.