Oxford Nanopore Technologies: Our goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere.
The company has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology for faster, information rich, accessible and affordable molecular analysis.
The first application is DNA/RNA sequencing, and the technology is in development for the analysis of other types of molecules including proteins.
The technology is used to understand and characterise the biology of humans and diseases such as cancer, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses, and whole environments.
With a thriving culture of ambition and strong innovation goals, Oxford Nanopore is a UK headquartered company with global operations and customers in more than 125 countries!
About the Role
We are looking for a Senior Production Engineer to lead the manufacturing support, industrialisation, and scaling of manual, semi-automated, and fully automated assembly processes for our cutting-edge fluidic products.
This role will be based at Abingdon Business Park, Oxfordshire.
In this role, you won't just sit behind a desk—you’ll actively get involved building, debugging, and commissioning assembly fixtures, robotic cells, and custom test equipment. You will play a crucial role in taking new products from R&D concepts to robust, high-yield, high-throughput production processes.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with R&D and Design teams to seamlessly transfer new fluidic products into production.
- Develop and debug advanced assembly processes, including plastic laser welding, precision dispensing, leak testing, syringe-pump fills, and laser marking.
- Build, wire, and commission assembly fixtures, robotic cells, vision systems, and electrical enclosures.
- Modify wiring and troubleshoot PLC, Safety PLC, HMI functionality, fieldbus networks, and hardware sensors/actuators.
- Lead FAT, SAT, IQ, OQ, and PQ activities following GAMP-style expectations and strict quality standards.
- Utilize root-cause analysis, FMEA, and SPC tools to optimize yield, cut costs, and boost process reliability.
What We’re Looking For
Must-Haves:
- Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Automation, Mechatronics (or equivalent), or formal apprenticeship with significant hands-on industry experience.
- Proven background in production/manufacturing engineering within medical devices, biotech, pharmaceuticals, or a similarly regulated environment.
- A true willingness to get into the workshop—building, wiring, debugging, and tuning machinery personally.
- Technical Breadth:
- Practical 3D CAD skills and electrical schematic creation.
- Solid understanding of PLC, Safety PLC, HMI systems, and industrial networking.
- Validation experience (FAT, SAT, IQ/OQ/PQ).
Nice-to-Haves:
- Experience programming or integrating 6-axis, SCARA, Delta, or Cartesian robots.
- Background with fluid handling processes (dispensing, jet valves, leak testing).
- Familiarity with ISO 13485 / ISO 9001 environments and GAMP principles.
- Six Sigma Green/Black Belt certification and proficiency in Minitab.
Why Join Us?
Are you a hands-on engineer who thrives at the intersection of automation, clever design, and precision manufacturing?
You will take full ownership of novel processes from early-stage concepts right through to validation and live support.
If you bring curiosity, resilience, and a drive to solve complex engineering challenges, you will thrive in our fast-paced, collaborative team environment.
We offer outstanding benefits to include an attractive bonus, generous pension contributions, private healthcare and an excellent starting salary.
If you are looking to utilise your skills to really make a difference to humankind, then consider joining our team and apply today!
Please note that no terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation. Every candidate will be assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the duties of the job.
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About Us
Oxford Nanopore Technologies: Our goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The company has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology for faster, information rich, accessible and affordable molecular analysis. The first application is DNA/RNA sequencing, and the technology is in development for the analysis of other types of molecules including proteins. The technology is used to understand and characterise the biology of humans and diseases such as cancer, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses, and whole environments. With a thriving culture of ambition and strong innovation goals, Oxford Nanopore is a UK headquartered company with global operations and customers in more than 125 countries.
Skills Required
- Degree in mechanical engineering or similar
- Apprentice trained with significant industrial experience
- Background in production engineering within regulated industry
- Experience with manual cell manufacturing and lean initiatives
- Proven ability to lead complex projects from concept to production
- Experience in automating medical product processes
- Experience in establishing and validating pilot production lines
- Skilled in cross-functional collaboration and communication
- Proficient in Microsoft Applications and Solidworks
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Oxford Nanopore Technologies and has not been reviewed or approved by Oxford Nanopore Technologies.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered good to above average across many roles, with employer-provided ranges visible for several U.S. commercial and applications positions and company materials emphasizing market‑competitive base pay. Commercial and some senior technical posts, particularly in the U.S., are positioned as competitive and often paired with strong variable components.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — All‑employee share plans in the UK and a U.S. employee stock purchase plan indicate broad access to equity as part of total reward. Company communications highlight attractive bonus and share plans that add meaningful upside beyond base pay.
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Healthcare Strength — U.S. roles indicate strong health insurance and core protections, while official materials and country overviews reference private medical coverage and wellbeing support. These elements position the health package as a notable strength alongside cash compensation.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Insights
What We Do
Our goal is to enable the analysis of anything, anywhere, by anyone. We have developed the world’s first and only nanopore DNA and RNA sequencing platform. It’s a new generation of sequencing technology — the only one to offer: scalability to portable or ultra-high throughput formats, real-time data delivery, and the ability to elucidate rich biological data. We are aiming to disrupt the way that biological analyses are currently performed, and open up new applications that have a profound, positive impact on society. Our devices offer real-time analysis, for rapid insights, in fully scalable formats — from pocket to population scale — and the technology is being used in more than 100 countries worldwide. Founded in 2005 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford, the company now employs more than 600 people from multiple disciplines including nanopore science, molecular biology and applications, informatics, engineering, electronics, manufacturing and commercialisation. The management team, led by CEO Dr Gordon Sanghera, has a track record of delivering disruptive technologies to the market.
