Leading Automotive Recruitment
ATA Recruitment is a trusted and experienced automotive recruitment company delivering high-performing engineering and technical talent into the heart of the UK automotive sector. With more than 60 years of experience supporting the evolving needs of manufacturing, we understand the pace, precision, and quality demands unique to automotive.
Automotive is not just a sector, it’s a national engine of innovation and productivity. With over 182,000 people employed and £67 billion generated annually for the UK economy, the industry plays a vital role in global trade and technological advancement. The pressure to meet quality, sustainability, and safety expectations is intense, making the quality of recruitment a mission-critical factor.
At ATA, we are more than just recruiters, we are strategic partners. Whether you're a Tier 1 supplier needing a specialist Quality Engineer or an OEM looking for long-term leadership talent, we have the networks, industry insight, and recruitment frameworks to help you compete and grow.
ATA's Consultative Approach to Automotive Recruitment
Our success is built on a consultative approach. We don’t believe in generic CVs or keyword matches, we invest time in understanding your business, culture, and technical challenges. That includes site visits, process shadowing, market benchmarking, and feedback loops.
For our clients, this means less time wasted on misaligned candidates, and more focus on onboarding people who deliver from day one. For candidates, it means receiving opportunities that match their career goals, skillsets, and values.
Supporting Automotive Candidates
We provide automotive professionals with access to exclusive roles, career advice, and onboarding support. Many of our candidates return to us when they’re ready for their next challenge, a testament to the trust we build. Whether you’re seeking career progression or a new direction in automotive, we help you get there faster.
OUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE
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Permanent Recruitment
Maintenance Engineer
Maintenance Manager
Project Engineer
Programme Manager
Design Engineer
Continuous Improvement Engineer
Health and Safety
Quality Engineer
Production Engineer
NPI Engineer
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Contract Recruitment
Maintenance Engineer
Maintenance Team Leader
Project Engineer
Design Engineer
Continuous Improvement
Health and Safety
Quality Engineer
Quality Inspector
NPI Engineer
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Interim Recruitment
Project Manager
Programme Manager
Maintenance Manager
Engineering Manager
Plant Manager
Operations Manager
Engineering Director
Technical Director
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ATA Search
Engineering Manager
Operations Manager
Quality Manager
Production Manager
Plant Manager
General Manager
Engineering Director
Technical Director
Operations Director
Managing Director
Latest Jobs In Automotive
Electrical Maintenance Engineer
£50853 - 50853 per year Annual bonus + 33 Days holiday + Pension to 12% + Life assurance + Private healthcare + Other excell
Derby
Maintenance Engineer Derby 3 Shift system £50,853 + Annual bonus + 33 Days holiday + Opportunity to earn up to 39 hours more + Pension up to 12% company contribution + Life assurance + Private healthcare + Extensive company sick pay + Free workwear + Paid overtime The Company ATA are working exclusively with Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK at their world class manufacturing facility in Derbyshire. Due to a variety of factors including new project wins, exciting new technological ventures, internal promotions and the need to increase their workforce throughout 2026, we are supporting them on an exciting recruitment drive. The groups UK arm is a critical part in the company wheel and currently operates as their flag ship site in Europe accounting for an impressive £3B of the groups £210B annual turnover. Working at the heart of their operation, Toyota’s Maintenance Technician’s play a critical part in the production of every single Toyota Vehicle that roles off the production line (which to date sits at over 5 million cars). There are currently over 200 skilled Maintenance Technicians working across the companies 5 prestigious shops, each working in collaboration with each other to ensure machinery is running smoothly and production isn’t impacted. The shops encompass the entire manufacturing process starting in the body shop through to assembly and finally, quality control. The Role As a Maintenance Technician you will be responsible for maintaining a variety of PLC controlled automated production machinery which can include Komatsu presses, Kawasaki robotics, Injection moulding machinery + various conveying. Responsibilities include: Completing planned preventive maintenance Reacting to breakdowns Electrical and mechanical fault finding Undertaking project work which can include upgrade and new machine installation. Achieving kaizen – Toyotas world renowned continuous improvement process. The Candidate To be successful in your application for Maintenance Technician working within this world-class Automotive OEM, Toyota look for skilled and dedicated Engineers who not only take quality seriously but also continuous improvement. Specific experience and skills they look for are; A full engineering apprenticeship (NVQ Level 3) Engineers who want to forge a long-term career A passion for engineering & maintenance TMUK are open to backgrounds and will consider technicians from all backgrounds including the armed forces Flexibility to complete the occasional overtime shift The Benefits Not only does Toyota offer a fantastic salary and monetary compensation for your skills, there are some truly exceptional benefits including; PLC training, learn how to plug in, fault find, make modifications, and interrogate. Opportunity to gain further external qualification including HNC Opportunity to join a company with fantastic employee retention with the average length of service being 15 years If you want to hear more about how to become a Maintenance Technician at the world’s largest automotive group and what they can offer you, then please press apply, send your CV over to Kristi.Hopwood@ata-recruitment.co.uk or give Kristi Hopwood a call on 0116 2181640. ATA is committed to creating a diverse workforce and is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation
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Senior Quality Engineer
£45000 - 45000 per year Nine Day Fortnight
Somerset
Senior Quality Engineer Somerset £45,000 + Excellent Benefits + 9 Day Fortnight The Company We are looking to speak with aspirational candidates who have a background in leadership within a stores, inventory or materials management environment who want to join a business who can offer fast tracked career development into senior management positions. Our client is a specialist Automotive supplier working in partnership with OEM's to provide high-quality re-manufactured parts. After being established over 70 years ago they have been through modernisation in recent decades and are seeing huge year on year growth as they continue strengthening their relationship with one of the leading Automotive manufactures in the UK. The company employs 70+ staff and has a £multi-million turnover. Over recent years, with a new Health, Safety & Quality Manager at the helm they have made huge inroads in creating a more effective and robust quality department and now require a Senior Quality Engineer to continue with this work. The Role The Senior Quality Engineer will work alongside the Health, Safety & Quality Manager and the other members of the team to reduce repeat mistakes and identify areas of repeatable improvement. Key daily responsibilities will include; Raising the Right First Time percentage rate for completed assemblied - after each product is assembled, if it results in failure at testing, problem solving will be carried out alongside root cause analysis on the failures to understand them and identify corrective measures for future assemblies Collecting data over a period of time to identify trends, continually reviewing after corrective measures put in place to ensure trends in right direction . Reviewing and enhancing SOPs - Auditing and reviewing existing SOP's to ensure they are enforced and identifying where they are lacking, to build revisions and improvements into the QMS system. Maintaining accreditations in place Hosting external audits - taking any non-conformances from these and running 8D's to identify solutions Supporting APQP processes for new supplier components The Candidate To be successful in your application for this Senior Quality Engineer role you will need; Previous experience working as a Quality/Senior Quality Engineer within an engineering/manufacturing environment Someone practically minded - role will be 50% office based and the rest of the time problem solving with people on the shop floor. Significant problem solving experience Root cause analysis & 8D experience Ability to work alone and provide support at a Senior level The Benefits For this Senior Quality Engineer, the following benefits are on offer: £45,000 basic salary A nine day fortnight - the business works Monday - Thursday every other week.
Apply now
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
"In the past we have struggled to recruit for critical roles in our engineering team and over time have worked with a number of agencies unsuccessfully. The team at ATA have been very different, they have tried to deeply understand our business, spending time on the shop floor, meeting managers and members of the team, which has enabled them to really understand our culture, the nature of the roles and the required skills.
This means they only provide candidates aligned to our needs. They provide data and advice enabling us to position ourselves better in the market and give us feedback on the experiences of the candidates we interview and hire supporting retention. They have really considered how they advertise and invest to do this well.
2023 has been our best year for recruitment. ATA Recruitment now genuinely feel like part of our team, not a supplier and we now work exclusively with them for technical recruitment."
Dan Jones, Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK
"IMKA continually return to using ATA because of the professional manner and results that are achieved. The correct calibre candidates are always shortlisted, removing hours of time from exploratory interviews and ensuring that the selection and recruitment process is efficient and sustainable with the candidates provided.
When there is an assignment, ATA Search conducts a full and concise review of the role, understanding what individual skills / traits / behaviours are needed to make recruitment as smooth and efficient as possible. With their knowledge of the culture and scope of our business, ATA Search then creates a shortlist of candidates which meet the criteria of the role and are ready to fit / work straight away into the organisation.
IMKA will continue to work directly with ATA Search for this professional, cost effective and dynamic recruitment process."
Operations Director, IMKA Automotive Ltd