Hi,

Being Swedish based in have little experience of the UK job market. However, I have been approached by a UK recruiter for a job which sounds very interesting.

He told me the salary level is firm rather than negotiable. Yet he asked me to put a salary expectation on the CV before forwarding it to the client.

Normally, salary levels are the last thing we talk about in Sweden and therefore I'm not sure what to put on my CV. Normally, I would put a bit on top of what I expect to get in the end. That would be slightly above the "firm" level. But given a "firm" salary, I just want to make sure I do not come across as rude.

See post below for a brief job discription. I would also like to know what you think is a reasonable salary level for the position.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE:

- The Lead Engineer acts as the conduit between the ‘Program’ & the Function Group delivery team including engineering, Supply chain & commercial.
- The Lead engineer will represent the interior Function Group in all project related forums and communication.
- The Lead engineer will lead & manage Function Groups adherence & delivery to the program high level plan.
- The lead engineer will manage & coordinate supply chain & commercial activity relating to successful delivery of their systems.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

- Project responsibility for Interior Function Group including:
o Budgets & Expenditure (including target setting)
o Timing & Delivery
o BOM management & tracking
o Vehicle build & development support
o Support the definition of Spec Book, FMEA, DVP, Vehicle/System level technical and test specifications

- Through well structured communication ensure that all delivery stakeholders are always up to date with program information and status.
- With the Chief Engineer, Principal Engineers and the Concept team lead the design and development of systems and components to ensure optimised vehicle performance and delivery of vehicle attributes.
- Work with Function Group Manager to ensure correct resource planning and budget setting.
- Establish the supply chain in association with Supply Chain Management team to ensure supplier nomination and delivery of components and systems on schedule for all program phases.
- Lead the review and management of Engineering concerns through-out the program.
- Respond to requests for information or specification change with assessment of risk and cost.
- Manage, lead and communicate with off-site resource / teams.
- Preparation and presentation of material to support external and internal project status reviews.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

- Experienced in an OEM or tier one with a high level of technical knowledge & experience of component & system design, test & production and delivery project management within an APQP or similar framework
- PC literate and at ease with MS Office products.

QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

Mechanical or Automotive Engineering Degree 2:1 or above

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:

- Excellent communicator with the ability to lead and motivate a small focused team and work cross functionally
- 5-10 years automotive design and development
- Experience of high volume and niche vehicle (low volume) programmes
- Adopts a creative & thoughtful approach to concept design and solving engineering problems with good attention to detail and an engaging mind, open to new problems outside their normal comfort zone.
- Excellent feasibility assessment skills of relevant systems, including design for manufacture and DFMEA’s
- Self reliant - intrinsically self motivated.
- Well organised and delivery focused – with demonstrable track record of on-time delivery in a high pressure environment.
- Capable of representing a world class automotive brand

Where are you based?

Well, based in Gothenburg/Göteborg on the West Coast of Sweden at the moment. But willing to relocated given the right opportunity.

Have you factored in relocation / living costs in comparison to your current position ? I have always found a degree of negotiation can be entered into and worth further discussion?

I should imagine living costs anywhere in the UK are likely to be lower than in Sweden.

Sounds to me that the job could well be in Derbyshire (Toyota) or the NE (Nissan) or even Brum for Mini or Liverpool for Astra as the new model will be built there. Don't think MG have any plans for mass production in the UK.

recruiters are paracites. get them to tell you the salary banding for the role upfront. i wouldnt waste 5 minutes on a recruiter's 'opportunity' unless i knew what it was for, where and how much.

Jaguar in the midlands? I've been chased for a couple of jobs there...

Is this Crewe based by any chance?

Job is based in the greater London area.

I was waiting to disclose the salary level - was hoping for some feedback here first...

I've been given a fixed salary level of £65k + car + relocation support from the recruiter.

Yet the recruiter asked me for a salary expectation. Not sure what to put on my CV - it it rude to put something other than £65k?

Agreed - first question to ask is 'what is their upper limit on salary?' get a response, and then bargain up based on travel, relocation expenses etc. money for that lot often comes out of a different pot.

I would not put salary expectations on my CV.

Depends on your outlook, commuting into London is not something I would want to be faced with unless the post had really a great prospect for advancement. If you already commute into a busy city it may not prove an issue.
Does that salary look enticing enough to make the move?

I assume commuting wouldn't be an issue as it's outside the M25. At least as long as we don't decide to live IN London... (guess the definition of the greater London area is subjective - especially as I look at it from google maps).

From my perspective, it seems to be a relatively good salary but I'm not sure what to expect since I'm new to the UK job market. Any more comments/opinions?

I feel I do have to get back the recruiter...

That's why I asked for some feedback here.

Housing is abnormally expensive within a 40 mile radius of central London.

I would say that £65k doesn't sound too bad for a Lead Engineer (not Principle, not Chief) but it's not my field exactly (I'm chemical/process, this is automotive). But remember that this is the UK and not Sweden, our taxes are generally lower I think.

Does "+car" mean an actual physical car (which is a taxable perk, which if you are not going to be doing many business miles, may not be worth having) or an allowance, ie: an extra sum of money on top of salary? As for relocation, they do realise you are coming from Sweden do they? What are they offering for relocation support? 3 months in a hotel whilst looking for a place to live, time off to look for a place to live, paid trips "home" if "home" is still Sweden? Do they have an HR department who are used to relocating overseas people? Presumably as Sweden is an EU member, there's no need for work permits, visas, etc?

What about pension contributions? They may double your contributions up to a certain level, but it will go into a UK based scheme that might be hard to move to Sweden if you don't end up retiring from there.

It's not Maclaren is it? On the one hand they are outside the M25, but it's stretching the truth to say it's in Greater London. For me "Greater London" means inside one of the London boroughs which are pretty much all inside the M25, see wiki map

And just because it's outside the M25 don't assume that commuting won't be a significant cost or time waster. South of the river (Thames) the tube network does not reach very far, and many areas don't have a good train or bus service, or if they do, they might not go to where you want to go, you can easily spend an hour to commute 10-15 miles.

If the salary level is fixed, no point in putting it on your CV I would say, but if you get to an interview, you can ask about salary.

If you're young and single, and if you're bringing your LE to the UK, why not go for it? Come for an interview on condition that they pay your expenses (flight and possibly overnight accommodation and taxi).