Graduate Project Design Engineer

White Label Recruitment Ltd; Rochdale; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

White Label Recruitment Ltd is recruiting a Graduate Project Design Engineer for a specialist designer and manufacturer of clean air and containment solutions. You will take customer projects from concept to handover, supporting live projects and producing 2D/3D designs using SolidWorks, maintaining BOMs and technical files.

You will work across Contracts, Design, Production, Purchasing, Quality, Service and Installation to ensure compliant, well-planned delivery.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent in mechanical engineering, product design, manufacturing engineering or similar.
• 1+ years working experience.
• Proficient in 2D/3D CAD (SolidWorks) and reading technical drawings.
• Strong organisational skills with ability to plan, record, actions and deadlines.
• Confident written and verbal communicator across departments and with customers.
• Analytical and methodical with a hands-on learning mindset.
• Proficient in MS Office; familiarity with ERP, document control and project planning systems.

Responsibilities

• Managing projects from internal handover to completion within scope, programme, quality and cost.
• Reviewing orders, specs, drawings and contracts; flag gaps or risks early.
• Create and maintain project plans, schedules, risk logs and progress reports across teams.
• Organise project meetings and circulate minutes; chase actions.
• Track milestones, long-lead items and installation dates; flag delays and scope changes.
• Maintain accurate project records, approvals and close-out documentation.
• Build relationships with customers and suppliers; produce weekly project reports with the Design Engineer.

Skills

CAD - SolidWorks

Experience 1+ yrs

Reading drawings

Org & docs

Cross-dept comms

MS Office

ERP familiarity

Education

Degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent

Tools

SolidWorks

Job description

Project Design Engineer

The Opportunity

Our client is a specialist designer and manufacturer of clean air and containment solutions, supplying customers across a range of demanding, highly regulated industries. With the business continuing to expand, they're now looking to add a Graduate Project Design Engineer to their team — someone who will play a key part in taking customer projects from initial concept right through to handover.

This is a great opportunity for a junior but technically-minded engineer ready to take the next step in their career. Full training and support will be provided, giving you the chance to build on your existing design skills while developing the commercial and project management experience needed to progress into a broader delivery role.

You'll work closely with colleagues across Contracts, Design, Production, Purchasing, Quality, Service and Installation, helping to make sure every project is technically sound, well planned, commercially controlled and delivered to the standards agreed with the customer.

What you'll be doing

Project management and coordination

• Supporting live projects from internal handover through to completion, working within agreed scope, programme, quality and cost parameters
• Reviewing customer orders, specs, quotations, drawings and contract requirements, flagging any gaps, conflicts or risks as early as possible
• Building and maintaining project plans, schedules, risk/issue logs and progress reports, and coordinating information and actions across Design, Production, Purchasing, Quality, Testing, Service and Installation
• Organising and contributing to internal and customer project meetings, circulating clear minutes and chasing agreed actions
• Tracking milestones, long-lead items, design sign-offs, manufacturing progress, testing, delivery and installation dates; flagging delays, cost pressures, technical issues or scope changes early, and recording variations for approval
• Keeping project records, correspondence, approvals and close-out documentation up to date on company systems
• Building strong working relationships with customers and suppliers, and producing accurate weekly project reports jointly with the Design Engineer, ready for issue to customers and Production

Design engineering

• Producing and revising 2D and 3D designs, general arrangement drawings, component drawings, assemblies and manufacturing information
• Turning customer and project requirements into practical, safe, manufacturable designs, with support from senior engineers where needed
• Maintaining BOMs, drawing registers, technical files and controlled design records
• Checking dimensions, interfaces, materials, tolerances and component selection before drawings are released, applying company, customer and relevant regulatory standards
• Taking part in design reviews, risk assessments, design verification and problem-solving
• Liaising with Production and suppliers to resolve manufacturing queries and improve manufacturability, assembly, testing, maintenance and installation, and supporting testing and factory acceptance including investigating technical issues
• Incorporating approved changes, keeping as-built information accurate, and contributing to standardisation and continuous improvement

What we're looking for

Essential

• Degree, HND or equivalent in mechanical engineering, product design, manufacturing engineering or similar
• 1+ years working experience
• Working knowledge of 2D/3D CAD (Solidworks), and the ability to read technical drawings and apply core engineering principles to real design problems
• Strong organisational skills — able to plan, keep accurate records, manage actions and hit deadlines
• Confident written and verbal communicator, comfortable working across departments and, as you gain experience, directly with customers
• Analytical and methodical, happy to ask questions, take feedback on board and own your own learning
• Competent in Microsoft Office, with the ability to pick up ERP, document control and project planning systems

Desirable

• Placement, internship or project experience within a manufacturing, engineering or project environment
• Some exposure to design for manufacture, BOMs, change control, risk management or quality systems, and familiarity with Microsoft Project
• Full UK driving licence, with willingness to travel to customer sites occasionally

The kind of person who'll thrive here

• Accuracy and ownership — checks their own work, sees things through, and speaks up early if there's a problem
• Collaboration and commercial awareness — works well with technical and non-technical colleagues, weighing up time, cost, scope and customer commitments
• Practical thinking — looks for solutions that are safe, compliant, manufacturable and easy to maintain
• Growth mindset — keeps building technical and project management skills through feedback and hands-on experience

Why apply

This is a genuine opportunity to join a growing, specialist engineering business at an exciting time, with real exposure to the full project lifecycle — from design through manufacture, testing and installation. You'll be developing skills across both engineering and project management, working alongside experienced colleagues who'll help you grow into the role.

If you're technically minded, well organised, and enjoy seeing a project through from start to finish, we'd love to hear from you.

Please note at this time the company cannot offer sponsorship.