Lead Design Engineer

Job Overview

The Lead Design Engineer, based at our site in Whitstable; Kent, will provide technical leadership within the engineering function of the UK’s leading supplier of passive fire protection products, an organisation actively involved in driving fire standards in the UK. The role is responsible for the design integrity, development and lifecycle support of mechanical products, covering reverse engineering and redesign of legacy products, as well as new product development, ensuring solutions meet functional, cost, manufacturing and regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Ensure all engineering designs, prototypes and development activities are carried out in accordance with relevant health, safety and regulatory requirements.
• Provide technical leadership across mechanical product design, development and lifecycle support.
• Lead reverse engineering activities to analyse, redesign and improve existing products.
• Develop concept designs based on engineering analysis, test data and requirements.
• Produce 2D/3D CAD models and drawings using AutoCAD.
• Plan and execute prototype manufacture including build and evaluation.
• Design and conduct Design of Experiments (DOE).
• Perform FEA analysis (Nastran).
• Analyse test data to drive product improvement.
• Own technical problem solving and root cause analysis.
• Support manufacturing and resolve design issues.
• Maintain technical documentation and reports.

Qualifications

• 5-10+ years mechanical design engineering experience.
• Experience in reverse engineering and product redesign.
• Prototype development and testing expertise.
• Engineering analysis expertise (FEA/calculations).
• Technical leadership or supervisory experience.
• Desirable: Project management experience.
• Desirable: Direct medium‑high volume production environment exposure.
• Desirable: Toolroom training (lathe, CNC, etc).
• Desirable: Prototype development and lean/continuous improvement experience.
• Degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent experience.

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