Lead Composite Engineer

Owen Daniels; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays

Comprehensive private healthcare

Life assurance and critical illness cover

Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Flexible working arrangements

Pension contribution

Professional development opportunities

Flexible Working

Job summary

A rapidly growing marine applications firm in the UK is seeking a Lead Composite Structural Engineer with 10+ years in high-performance composite marine programmes. This role involves leading technical standards, mentoring engineers, and ensuring structural integrity across projects. Ideal candidates will have autonomous decision-making abilities and experience in high-end motorsport or aerospace. Attractive benefits include comprehensive private healthcare and flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in high-performance composite marine programmes.
• Experience in high-end motorsport, aerospace, or rotorcraft with a lightweight composite focus.
• Strong capability designing composite structures for dynamic environments.
• Chartered Engineer status or progressing toward Chartership.
• Ability to set technical standards and lead project teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the composite structural engineering discipline across all projects.
• Set technical standards, methodologies, and quality expectations.
• Own composite structural development from concept to production.
• Own development from concept to production release.
• Review analyses and guide use of first-principles, laminate theory, or FEA.
• Coordinate with naval architects, production and classification bodies.

Skills

Composite structural engineering

Technical leadership

Mentoring and coaching

Autodesk Inventor

AutoCAD

Education

Chartered Engineer status or working towards Chartership

Tools

Autodesk Inventor

AutoCAD

Job description

Our client is a rapidly growing business designing some of the most innovative and interesting applications for the marine industry. If you are a meticulous individual with a passion for design and development, for a pre‑production project then this could be perfect for you.

Marine applications

Permanent

Fantastic benefits

Role & Requirements

As the Lead Composite Structural Engineer, you will be responsible for the technical leadership and direction of composite structural engineering. You will set best‑practice standards, oversee structural integrity across programmes and mentor a small team of engineers while remaining hands‑on in delivery.

You will:

• Lead the composite structural engineering discipline across all projects.
• Set technical standards, methodologies and quality expectations for the team.
• Mentor, coach and develop engineers at varying experience levels.

Technical Delivery

• Own composite structural development from concept to production release.
• Direct and review the team’s analysis—guiding when to use first‑principles, laminate theory, scantling rules or advanced FEA.
• Provide robust, efficient structural solutions where weight, stiffness, fatigue and manufacturability matter.
• Work closely with naval architects, mechanical engineers and production to ensure clear load paths, clean interfaces and efficient build strategies.
• Provide authoritative support during prototype build and structural testing.
• Communicate with classification societies and other regulatory bodies for approvals and guidance

Domain Expertise

• Strong capability designing composite structures for high‑load paths, lifting, shock, vibration and dynamic environments.
• Good general naval architecture awareness — understanding how structural decisions influence vessel behaviour.
• Comfortable with bonded joints, composite‑to‑metal interfaces and complex mixed‑material assemblies.

A high level of autonomy, technical judgement and calm leadership is essential.

Qualifications and Experience

10+ Years working in the following industries:

• High‑performance composite marine programmes
• High‑end motorsport, aerospace, or rotorcraft with lightweight composite focus
• Experience with Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD is highly desirable
• Chartered Engineer status in a relevant discipline or actively working towards Chartership

Benefits

• Annual Leave – Entitlement to 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private Healthcare – Access to comprehensive private healthcare coverage to support your physical and mental wellbeing.
• Life Assurance and Critical Illness Cover – Comprehensive protection including Life Assurance (4× salary) and Critical Illness Cover for added financial security.
• Family Leave – Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Christmas Leave – A Christmas shutdown is typically observed.
• Professional Development – Commitment to ongoing learning and career growth, supported by training programmes and access to LinkedIn Learning.
• Pension Contribution – pension scheme with the option to contribute via salary sacrifice
• Flexible Working – Opportunities for flexible working arrangements to promote work–life balance.

Candidates must be able to obtain BPSS clearance and should have the right to work in the UK.