Senior Level Quality Engineer

Who are ATC?

Applied Thermal Control are the UK’s leading manufacturer of compact recirculating chillers. Originally developed for the laboratory, ATC chillers are used in a wide range of applications and industries around the world, from paint manufacturing to space exploration. Founded in 1995 ATC have achieved continuous growth and were bought by SDI Group in 2017. Since then, SDI have invested in ATC, including the purchase of a complimentary company, Thermal Exchange, specialists in industrial cooling solutions. As a result, ATC now have a portfolio of standard and specialised solutions for temperature control from 500W up to 1MW in cooling capacity.

ATC was founded as a result of a collaboration between a physics professor and another chiller manufacturer. The company was born out of necessity – to provide compact and reliable recirculating chillers to the UK market. Since ATC’s inception we have worked in high technology applications and have specialised in collaborative relationships with other machine manufacturers, whose technologies rely on water cooling.

Who were Thermal Exchange?

Thermal Exchange were founded in 1989 and have a long-standing history of the design and manufacture of bespoke cooling solutions, largely for industrial applications. Similar to ATC, Thermal Exchange was born out of necessity to supply air blast coolers for welding torches. Since then, Thermal Exchange product portfolio has expanded greatly to include water to water heat exchangers, industrial chillers, large flat bed coolers and chillers that use oil as a coolant.

Because of the complimentary technologies with ATC, Thermal Exchange were bought by SDI group in 2019 and since 2020 Thermal Exchange has been fully incorporated into the ATC company.

Who are SDI?

SDI designs and manufactures scientific and technology products for use in digital imaging and sensing and control applications including life sciences, healthcare, astronomy, manufacturing, precision optics and art conservation. SDI operates through its company divisions: Atik Cameras, Synoptics, Graticules Optics, Sentek, Astles Control Systems, Applied Thermal Control, MPB Industries, Chell Instruments, Monmouth Scientific, Uniform Engineering, Safelab Systems Limited and Scientific Vacuum Systems Limited.

SDI continues to grow by developing its own technology advancements and by improving its global sales channels, as well as through pursuing strategic, complementary acquisitions.

What do we do?

ATC specialise in the design and manufacture of chillers, air blast coolers, liquid to liquid (water to water) heat exchangers, and flat bed coolers. We have a huge range of standard and specialised products for a huge range of applications. We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and in our ability to offer an unparalleled level of service to our customers. We have a lot of reasons to be proud of what we do, not least with our products having been used for the development and distribution of Coronavirus vaccinations. Despite current global challenges impacting supply chains across the world, we are still managing to ship the majority of our product on time. This is a testament to the hard-working mentality that cuts across the whole ATC organisation.

Alongside our excellent production staff, we also have a long-standing history of solving complex customer problems, adding value to projects in industries ranging from defence to vaccine development.

More recent projects have been in the sector of renewable and green energy technologies.

ATC is a cool place to work

While ATC is a relatively small company, we get to work on some really cool projects and emerging technologies. Working at a small company brings with it unique challenges and opportunities. There is certainly no place to hide, and we rely on our employees to bring a committed and conscientious approach to work in a fast-paced environment. That being said, it is very gratifying to get to touch a wide range of projects and make a definite impact to ATC and the wider world.

In the last few years this has particularly been the case, with key projects solving some of the day’s biggest issues, including vaccine development and production. The company is currently involved in both battery technology for vehicle electrification and hydrogen production for moving to low environmental impact fuels. ATC engineers are playing a small, but key role in bringing these innovative technologies to fruition.

This Position:

This position is for a Senior level Quality Engineer role within the technical department at Applied Thermal Control, to manage quality within the business and support customers with technical/quality issues. It’s an exciting opportunity to join ATC at the beginning of a period of significant growth, largely driven by the emerging technologies mentioned earlier and to support our growing business in the area of semiconductor production.

The successful candidate will possess an excellent understanding of quality systems, plus have strong organisational and communication skills.

The successful candidate will require a technical background to allow them to conduct root cause analysis of internal quality issues and customer technical and quality issues.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Technical Manager, the role is quite varied covering activities including:

• Quality management (ISO 9001)
• Environmental management (ISO 14001) 
• Tracking quality & environmental management actions to completion
• Customer technical support
• Maintain non-conformance records
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of internal and customer issues
• Product quality management
• Engineering change requests and management 
• Product manuals
• Control of key documents
• Continuous improvements 

The Technical Manager will support and oversee these activities to ensure the successful candidate is able to thrive with these varied responsibilities.

Skills and Experience:

Desirable:

• 10+ years experience in quality, engineering or customer technical support

• Knowledge of the following subject areas:
  • Quality management (ISO 9001)
  • Environmental management (ISO 14001) 
  • Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
  • Single and three phase power systems
  • Fluid systems, i.e. pumping, valves, fittings
  • Reading mechanical and electrical engineering drawings
  • Material chemical compatibility 
  • Manufacturing technologies, i.e. sheet metal work, machining
  • Inspection and testing techniques
• Experience using the following software:
  • Autodesk tools (to view CAD models)
  • Manufacturing BOM management/MRP/ERP tool (e.g. Sage Manufacturing, Javelin, NetSuite, SAP)
• Knowledge of basic business procedures, including the process from quote generation through to order dispatch, and communicating with suppliers and customers. 

Essential:

• 5+ years experience in quality, engineering, or customer technical support
• Educated to degree level in an engineering and/or scientific discipline
• Microsoft Office software, primarily Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel
• Flexible attitude to workload and strong team-working skills
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail, and a pragmatic approach to problem solving 
• Willingness to travel nationally and internationally in support of business activities (note, this will rarely be required)

The Work Environment

We offer a fulfilling work environment with the following attributes:

• Ability to see the output of your work implemented on a frequent basis
• A forum to present and debate your own ideas for new products and process improvement
• Continuous Professional Development and further study opportunities in line with business objectives
• A competitive benefits and remuneration package.