Industrial Engineer FTC

Description

Join Estée Lauder Companies at Whitman Laboratories, where a fifth of the company’s global sales output is manufactured. As a global leader in prestige beauty, we serve over half a billion consumers annually through renowned brands such as Estée Lauder, MAC, Jo Malone London, and Clinique, across more than 150 countries.

We are looking for a highly analytical and driven Industrial Engineer (12 Month FTC) to join our team at Whitman Laboratories. This is a fantastic opportunity to play a key role in New Product Introduction (NPI), product costing, and continuous improvement within a fast-paced FMCG manufacturing environment.

• Accurately analyse and calculate competitive product costing for all new products introduced to the Whitman plant, ensuring costs are both achievable and aligned to strategic volume allocation.
• Support the New Product Introduction (NPI) process by identifying new products and establishing robust labour standards.
• Monitor and review product costs, identifying risks and opportunities, and communicating effectively to ensure corrective actions are implemented.
• Conduct annual reviews of labour standards in line with market forecasts to support fiscal budget planning and identify efficiency improvements and cost reduction opportunities.
• Analyse areas where labour savings can be achieved and implement improvements to reduce overall labour costs.
• Partner with Assembly teams to support line balancing and resolve challenges in achieving labour standards.
• Analyse and interpret performance and operational data, identifying trends, inefficiencies, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Support production during first runs, validating labour standards and ensuring Right First Time (RFT) performance.
• Identify and deliver value analysis and value engineering initiatives to meet annual cost-saving targets.
• Conduct production and time studies within Assembly to evaluate line performance, identify root causes of issues, and recommend improvements.
• Lead or contribute to line improvement and strategic projects, working both independently and within cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex data and develop practical solutions using tools such as Excel and SAP.
• Proven experience in time studies, line balancing, performance analysis, and the calculation of labour standards, line speeds, and cost efficiencies.
• Ability to manage workload effectively in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence and engage stakeholders at all levels, from shop floor to senior leadership.
• Experience in a manufacturing environment, ideally within FMCG (cosmetics, toiletries, or similar).
• Solid understanding of manufacturing operations, shop floor processes, and how work is organised in production environments.
• Knowledge of SAP production systems, planning processes, and financial/cost accounting principles is advantageous.
• Understanding of ergonomics, method study, work measurement, and planning techniques.
• Strong report writing skills, with the ability to produce clear and concise summaries and communications.
• A collaborative, hands-on approach, with the ability to work closely with operational teams despite the role being primarily office-based.