Senior Mechanical Design Engineer £60–80k Base + Benefits
South East | Ref: ABJ7662
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, DFMEA) to develop innovative, high-performance machinery solutions. You’ll be responsible for producing complete manufacturing packages – (Machinery) for mechanical System Elements — including general assembly drawings (GAs), detailed manufacturing drawings, and bills of materials (BoMs) to meet customer testing specifications.
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 using Solidworks 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
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