Subsea Tooling Manager

Subsea Tooling Manager

Location: Aberdeen, Newcastle or North Yorkshire

Role Purpose

The Subsea Tooling Manager is responsible for the technical, commercial, and strategic management of a global subsea tooling portfolio. The role ensures tooling solutions are engineered, delivered, and cost-managed to meet project requirements safely, efficiently, and reliably, while driving performance, profitability, and market growth.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Lead the design, development, selection, and integration of subsea tooling, including pipeline PIG launch and recovery systems and subsea connectors.
  
  
• Provide technical leadership to tooling engineers, ensuring compliance with industry standards and best practices.
  
  
• Ensure tooling designs are maintained, certified, and compliant with regulatory and quality requirements.
  
  
• Support projects through technical reviews, feasibility assessments, and operational troubleshooting.
  
  
• Drive continuous improvement in tooling performance, reliability, and innovation.
  
  Commercial & Strategic Management
  
  
• Own the commercial strategy for subsea tooling, including budgeting, pricing, and cost control.
  
  
• Support sales enquiries and prepare technical and commercial proposals in response to RFQs.
  
  
• Manage vendor relationships, procurement strategies, and contract negotiations.
  
  
• Optimise tooling inventory and lifecycle management to reduce cost and lead times.
  
  
• Identify market trends, emerging technologies, and growth opportunities.
  
  
• Develop and deliver short-term revenue improvement plans and a 3–5 year strategic roadmap, including funded new product development.
  
  
• Support marketing activities, customer engagement, and industry exhibitions.
  
  Project, Operational, HSE & Quality
  
  
• Coordinate with internal teams to ensure tooling is delivered to customer expectations.
  
  
• Ensure timely resolution of equipment and operational issues.
  
  
• Champion a strong HSE culture and ensure compliance with safety, legislative, and quality systems.
  
  
• Participate in audits, incident investigations, and continuous improvement activities.
  
  Key Competencies
  
  
• Strong technical expertise in subsea tooling and ROV-related systems.
  
  
• Proven commercial and financial management capability.
  
  
• Leadership, strategic planning, and execution skills.
  
  
• Strong organisational, communication, and problem-solving abilities.
  
  
• Commitment to safety, quality, and continuous improvement.
  
  Qualifications & Experience
  
  
• Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Marine Engineering, Robotics, or related discipline.
  
  
• Chartered Engineer status desirable.
  
  
• 7+ years’ experience in subsea tooling, ROV operations, or subsea engineering.
  
  
• Proven experience in design-and-build environments and technical team management.
  
  
• Strong knowledge of offshore energy industry standards (API, ISO, IMCA).
  
  Work Environment
  
  
• Office-based with regular travel to operational teams, customers, and exhibitions in the UK and overseas