Chief Stress Engineer

Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd; Denham; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent pension

Life Assurance

Lunchtime finish on a Friday

Personalised training and development

Healthcare plan

25 days annual leave + bank holidays

Purchase additional annual leave

Martin-Baker + discounts platform

Occupational Health team

Cycle to work scheme

Job summary

Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd in Denham is seeking a Chief Stress Engineer to lead structural stress governance in our Mechanical Engineering group. You will be the Technical Lead and sole signatory for critical engineering documentation, ensuring compliance with international standards and the highest safety integrity.

The role offers deep day-to-day variety, extensive mentoring, and external training in digital metrology systems, with opportunities to shape work across manufacturing and

Qualifications

• Extensive expertise in structural stress analysis for aircraft or related equipment.
• Master’s degree in aerospace structures or equivalent.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) status or equivalent professional recognition.

Responsibilities

• Oversee, execute, and formally approve complex structural stress analyses (fatigue, damage tolerance).
• Sign documents, data approvals, and compliance verifications as immediate signatory.
• Contribute hands-on to core project stressing activities, not only reviews.
• Provide decisive input during engineering change and material reviews.
• Lead investigations into structural failures with root-cause analysis.
• Adapt quickly to changing priorities across the product lifecycle.

Skills

FEA expertise

Aerospace structures

CEng status

Technical leadership

Education

Master’s degree in aerospace structures

Tools

Ansys Mechanical

NASTRAN

LS-DYNA

Job description

Location Denham Salary Competitive with excellent employee benefits Application Deadline Saturday, October 31, 2026 Job Summary

Chief Stress Engineer - Denham

Pure Technical Authority. Safety-Critical Governance. Trust it with lives!

Advance your career in a senior role where technical stress governance meets real-world, life‑saving impact. As the Chief Stress Engineer within our Mechanical Engineering group at Denham, you will act as a dedicated Technical Lead and the ultimate authority on structural integrity. From executing complex finite element analysis to signing off critical engineering documentation, your expertise ensures our safety‑critical aerospace technologies are validated to the highest international standards.

Direct Impact, Global Scale. Life‑Saving Mission.

At Martin-Baker, the work we do matters. We design, manufacture and support life‑saving equipment used by aircrew around the world. Our products operate in demanding environments, where quality, reliability and attention to detail are critical.

We’re proud of our long history in aerospace and defence, also focused on the future. Joining Martin-Baker means becoming part of a business with a clear purpose, strong engineering capability and a long‑term commitment to its people, products and customers.

Whether you work in engineering, operations, commercial, finance, supply chain or support functions, your contribution helps deliver equipment that protects lives. It is challenging work, but it is also meaningful, and with over 7,800 lives saved, it gives our people the opportunity to be part of something with real impact.

The Opportunity

Working full‑time alongside our technical specialist, you will act as a vital line of defence to ensure absolute measurement integrity across our manufacturing operations. This role offers deep day‑to‑day variety, substantial technical training investment, and an opportunity to shape work that has not previously been done. You will receive full 1-on-1 mentorship as well as external training to develop your skills in emerging digital metrology systems.

What You’ll Do

• Technical Governance: Oversee, execute, and formally approve complex structural stress analysis, fatigue analysis, and damage tolerance analysis across projects.

• Signatory Authority: Apply the highest professional standards as an immediate signatory for crucial engineering documentation, data approvals, and compliance verification.

• Active Project Contribution: Remain hands‑on by actively contributing directly to core project stressing activities rather than only reviewing work from a distance.

• Engineering Change & Material Reviews: Provide decisive stress input into engineering change reviews and support complex material review applications.

• Failure Investigations: Lead and conduct thorough concessional and structural failure investigations, employing robust root‑cause decision‑making.

• Agile Problem Solving: Move quickly between unrelated technical matters at short notice, responding efficiently to changing priorities across the product lifecycle.

What We’re Looking For

• Extensive Stress Analysis Expertise: Deeply established, substantial experience heavily focused on the direct analysis of aircraft structures or ancillary equipment attached to aircraft.

• Technical Mastery: Masterful expertise in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) methods, mathematical modelling, structural mechanics, vibration, and fatigue analysis. Familiarity with tools like Ansys Mechanical, NASTRAN, or LS-Dyna is highly advantageous.

• Credentials: A Master’s degree or Bengin aerospace structures.

• Professional Status: Chartered Engineer (CEng) status with a recognised professional body (e.g., RAeS, IMechE, IET) is essential to enable immediate signatory duties.

• Sector Focus: Proven experience within a high-integrity Aerospace or Defence environment is required; purely research‑oriented experience will not suit our active production environment.

• Operational Drive: A delivery-focused problem solver with the agility and responsiveness required to provide technical answers within short timeframes.

• Share and demonstrate the Martin‑Baker values.

Our Values

At Martin-Baker, we value professionalism, understanding, teamwork, humility, accountability and integrity. We look for people who take pride in their work, collaborate openly and act with care because the work we do matters.

What We Offer

• Excellent pension package with strong employer support – Martin-Baker contributes 9% of your salary (non-contributory to the employee), with further employer contributions that grow as you increase your own

• Life Assurance

• Lunchtime finish on a Friday

• Personalised training and development plan

• Healthcare plan

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

• Opportunity to purchase additional annual leave

• Martin-Baker + (retail discounts platform)

• Occupational Health team

• Workplace Nursery Benefit scheme

• Cycle to work scheme

We believe in equal opportunity, committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone is respected. We want you to be able to do your best work.

Martin-Baker is a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant, showing our support and commitment to our Armed Forces and their families, proudly supporting those who serve.

This role is subject to pre‑employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS).

The role also involves access to information governed by U.S. Export Control Laws (including ITAR); therefore, all applicants must satisfy ITAR eligibility requirements.

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