Senior Mechanical Design Engineer £40-80k Base + Benefits
South East | Ref: ABJ7599

Join a leading R&D team as a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, applying your expertise in mechanical design, industrial design, and design for manufacturing (DFM) to develop innovative, high-performance solutions. You'll be responsible for producing complete manufacturing packages for mechanical System Elements — including general assembly drawings (GAs), detailed manufacturing drawings, and bills of materials (BoMs) — to meet customer testing specifications. You will report to the Mechanical Design Manager.

Key Responsibilities

* Collaborate with the mechanical design team to create assemblies for bespoke motion-control simulation systems.

* Mentor and support junior engineers in detailed design of System Elements.

* Understand and apply the operating principles and performance parameters of components such as actuators, valves, bearings, and other System Elements.

* Perform basic stress analysis (including FEA), select suitable materials, and verify safety in operation — e.g., assessing cylinder stresses, bolt loadings, and bearing sizing.

* Use in-house software (ACE 5) to select valves and size snubbers.

* Take a senior engineering role on project elements, coordinating design activities and deliverables.

* Continuously improve designs by suggesting cost-saving measures, reducing assembly time, enhancing manufacturability, and improving reliability and performance consistency.

* Conduct fault-finding and problem-solving activities.

* Work closely with the supply chain to ensure manufacturability and quality.

* Design moderately complex System Elements (often adapted from existing designs) and prepare full manufacturing and hydraulic schematic packages for procurement.

* Contribute to the creation of innovative new System Elements or complete mechanical systems, including layout, installation, ring main, and power pack designs for projects and sales proposals.

* Apply Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) principles in all designs.

Qualifications & Experience

* HND or degree in mechanical engineering or a related field.

* Several years' experience in the design and manufacture of hydraulic/pneumatic equipment or precision mechanical systems.

* Experience working within one or more of the following sectors will be advantageous:

* Automotive and Aerospace: Experience with hydraulic/pneumatic systems, motion control, or component testing for vehicles and aircraft. Rail and Transportation, Heavy Plant and Construction Machinery, Energy Sector or Industrial Automation and Manufacturing: Background in precision machinery, robotics, automation.

* Strong knowledge of product development and manufacturing techniques (DFM, DFA, DFMEA).

* Practical background with heavy plant machinery, welded structures, and pipework, or completion of a mechanical engineering apprenticeship.

* High attention to detail with strong data management and configuration control skills.

* Advanced 3D CAD skills, ideally using SolidWorks.

* Thorough knowledge of producing manufacturing drawings to BS 8888 standards.

* Proficiency in Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) to BS 8888, and understanding of limits and fits to BS 4500.

* Ability to design cost-effective solutions by selecting suitable manufacturing processes, balancing lead time, cost, and quantity constraints.

* Experience conducting tolerance analysis to confirm functionality within manufacturing variability.

* Knowledge of DraftSight for updating legacy 2D work is desirable.

Full-time | Permanent | Competitive base salary | Flexible benefits package. To Apply: Contact Alison Basson on (phone number removed) / (phone number removed) Email: Ref: ABJ7599