Mechanical Engineer (Accelerators)

StandardX; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Health

Life Insurance

Pension (Salary sacrifice)

Cycle to Work

EMI Options

Job summary

StandardX is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to own mechanical subsystems for its particle accelerator and target station hardware, guiding concepts through design, analysis, manufacture and integration.

You will work hands-on on the shop floor, develop hardware with CAD and FEA, and move quickly in a generalist role across the full system while prioritising pragmatic testing over lengthy sign-off.

Qualifications

• Several years of experience designing, building and testing hardware.
• Proven CAD experience with common packages (OnShape, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, NX, Catia, Creo).
• Experience with static structural FEA and validation against tests.
• Experience creating mechanical drawings with GD&T and tolerance analysis.
• Experience writing safety margins tables.
• Hands-on to build hardware in a workshop with hand and power tools.
• Willingness to work on-site in London.

Responsibilities

• Act as a Responsible Engineer with full ownership from design to integration.
• Develop mechanical subsystems for particle accelerator and target stations, including vacuum vessels and alignment systems.
• Build tooling to support in-house manufacturing and integration.
• Use CNC, sheet metal, welding and brazing across fabrication activities.
• Move fast and pragmatically, avoiding unnecessary gates.

Skills

CAD experience

OnShape

SolidWorks

Fusion 360

NX

Catia

Creo

GD&T

FEA

Tolerance analysis

Hands-on fabrication

On-site London

Tools

FEMAP

Job description

About You

As a Mechanical Engineer, you will take full ownership of mechanical subsystems for our particle accelerator and target station hardware, carrying each project through design, analysis, manufacture, test and integration.

You think in CAD and calculations first, but you don't stop at the drawing board - when a design needs proving out, you're just as happy on the shop floor, working hands-on to build and validate your own hardware.

You are a generalist by nature, happy to move across the whole system rather than settle into one narrow piece of it, and you move with a sense of urgency, favouring building and testing over waiting for formal sign-off.

About StandardX

There is infrastructure that defines eras. The steam engine made the industrial world possible. The internet created an economy. StandardX is building the next one. Some of the most essential materials on Earth are also the rarest. Isotopes are the invisible backbone of modern life - curing cancer, keeping industrial systems resilient and fuelling the fusion reactors that will power the next century. Yet the infrastructure that produces them is ageing, fragmented and increasingly unable to keep up with demand. We're a world-class team of nuclear engineers, deep tech operators and doctoral-level scientists building the UK's first isotope refinery: a single proprietary platform, deployable anywhere, producing the full portfolio of critical isotopes at scale - turning chronic scarcity into abundance.

Exceptional team. Massive problem. If you want to work on something that matters, really matters, this is it.

Key Objectives

• Take full ownership of mechanical subsystems, from concept through design, analysis, manufacture, test and integration.
• Develop hardware for particle accelerator and target station systems, including vacuum vessels, precision alignment systems and support structures.
• Build and maintain the tooling that supports in-house manufacturing and integration.
• Move quickly and pragmatically, avoiding analysis paralysis and unnecessary process gates.

Your Responsibilities

Mechanical Design & Ownership

• Act as a Responsible Engineer with full ownership of your projects through design, analysis, manufacture, test and integration
• Develop mechanical subsystems for particle accelerator and/or target stations, including:
• Vacuum vessels
• Precision alignment systems for electromagnets and RF cavities
• Vacuum stages for diagnostics
• Support structures
• Facility radiation shielding
• Brackets to support pipes and/or electrical cabling

Analysis & Validation

• Perform static structural FEA and validate models against physical test results
• Interpret and create mechanical drawings using GD&T, including tolerance stack-up analysis
• Write and maintain safety margin tables

Hands-On Fabrication

• Design and build tooling to support in-house manufacturing and integration
• Work confidently across manufacturing processes such as CNC, sheet metal, welding and brazing

Speed & Pragmatism

• Move fast without waiting for formal readiness gates or excess process
• Operate as a generalist across the full system rather than staying narrowly specialised

Requirements

• Several years' experience designing, building and testing hardware in a relevant engineering environment
• Proven CAD experience with OnShape, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, NX, Catia, Creo, or similar
• Experience with static structural FEA, including validating the model against physical test
• Experience interpreting and creating mechanical drawings with GD&T, including tolerance stack-up analysis
• Experience writing safety margin tables
• Comfortable working hands-on to build your own hardware, in a workshop with common hand tools and power tools
• Willingness to work on-site in London

Ideal Experience

• Experience creating shell models in FEMAP or similar
• Experienced in designing structures with integrated liquid cooling circuits
• Knowledge of UHV systems - vacuum pump types and trade-offs, UHV interfaces and design rules
• Experience working on particle accelerator or target station hardware specifically

Benefits

• Private Health Cover, with the option to add dependants.
• Life Assurance (Death in Service) at 4x salary.
• Salary sacrifice pension, with 4% employer contribution.
• Cycle to Work Scheme.
• EMI Share Options.