Materials & Joining Engineer

Laing O'Rourke; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Laing O'Rourke is seeking a Materials & Joining Specialist to define material selections and joining strategies for product families, ensuring robustness and cost-effectiveness for automated or high-volume manufacturing.

You will collaborate with product and manufacturing teams to align material choices with production environments, optimise designs for performance and durability, and support validation and certification processes.

Qualifications

• Background in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, heavy manufacturing or construction with manufacturing exposure.
• Experience defining materials, connections or joining strategies for engineered products.
• Understanding of manufacturing processes and production constraints.
• Experience working with manufacturing, welding or production teams.
• Strong problem-solving skills with a focus on practical application.

Responsibilities

• Define and optimise material selections and joining strategies for product families.
• Ensure designs are robust, cost-effective and suitable for automated or high-volume manufacturing.
• Collaborate with product and manufacturing teams to align material choices and joining methods with production environments.
• Define material strategies including grades, profiles, coatings and connection methods.
• Optimise designs for structural performance, manufacturability, cost and durability.
• Ensure compatibility with automated production, including robotic welding and high-throughput environments.
• Apply knowledge of joining technologies to inform product design decisions.
• Support validation, testing and certification approaches to ensure compliance and production robustness.
• Challenge design decisions that negatively impact quality, efficiency or scalability.

Skills

Problem solving

Systems thinking

Manufacturing awareness

Practical delivery

Job description

Materials & Joining Specialist – Product & Industrialisation

Location: UK (flexible)

An opportunity has arisen to join a Technology & Innovation team developing next-generation industrialised construction products. The focus of this role is defining material and joining strategies that enable scalable, efficient and high-quality manufacturing.

This role suits individuals who understand how product design decisions directly impact manufacturability, cost and production performance.

Who would this role suit?

Professionals from automotive, aerospace, rail, defence, heavy manufacturing, structural fabrication or energy sectors, as well as construction specialists with strong manufacturing or DfMA exposure and a clear interest in industrialisation.

About the team

The team is focused on transforming construction through manufacturing-led thinking, developing product platforms and production systems that enable repeatable, factory-based delivery.

What does a Materials & Joining Specialist do?

You will define and optimise material selections and joining strategies for product families, ensuring designs are structurally robust, cost-effective and suitable for automated or high-volume manufacturing.

Working closely with product and manufacturing teams, you will ensure that material choices, joint types and connection methods are aligned with real production environments and supply chains.

What else to expect:

• Define material strategies including grades, profiles, coatings and connection methods
• Optimise designs for structural performance, manufacturability, cost and durability
• Ensure compatibility with automated production, including robotic welding and high-throughput environments
• Apply knowledge of joining technologies (e.g. welding, fastening, hybrid methods) to inform product design decisions
• Support validation, testing and certification approaches to ensure compliance and production robustness
• Challenge design decisions that negatively impact quality, efficiency or scalability

Essential experience:

• Background in relevant sectors such as automotive, aerospace, heavy manufacturing or construction with manufacturing exposure
• Experience defining materials, connections or joining strategies for engineered products
• Understanding of manufacturing processes and production constraints
• Experience working with manufacturing, welding or production teams
• Strong problem-solving skills with a focus on practical application

Desirable experience:

• Experience in high-volume or repeatable product environments
• Exposure to automated or robotic joining processes
• Knowledge of testing, validation or certification of joined systems
• Experience in fast-paced or first-of-a-kind environments

Personal attributes:

• Systems thinker with an understanding of design trade-offs
• Awareness of how materials and joining impact cost, throughput and quality
• Comfortable working in evolving or ambiguous environments
• Practical, curious and delivery-focused

About Laing O'Rourke

Laing O'Rourke is an international engineering and construction business known for pushing boundaries in digital engineering, modern methods of construction and sustainable delivery. With more than 150 years of heritage, we are committed to creating environments in which diverse teams can excel and thrive.

Accessibility & Inclusion

We are proud to be part of the Disability Confident scheme. If you meet the essential criteria and would like to be considered through our Offer an Interview scheme, please let us know. We're also happy to provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

If you require an alternative format of this advert or need support during the application, please contact: [e-mail]