Principal Mechanical Design Engineer – Defense

ULTRA ELECTRONICS; Taplow; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Bonus Scheme

Private Medical Cover

25 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays)

Pension Contribution

4 x Life Assurance

Flexible working hours

Job summary

Ultra Electronics seeks a Principal Mechanical Engineer to provide technical leadership across design, development, testing and qualification of mechanical assemblies for advanced security-critical products.

You will lead mechanical activities from concept through production, ensuring designs meet functional, environmental and regulatory requirements, while mentoring junior engineers and driving engineering excellence across the team.

Qualifications

• Experience in mechanical integration, verification and validation activities.
• Skilled at writing mechanical requirements from system requirements.
• Knowledge of ROHS and REACH restrictions.
• UK driving license.
• BOM management with PLM/ERP systems.
• GD&T proficiency and tolerance analysis.
• DfAM and rapid prototyping experience.
• Communicates effectively across teams.

Responsibilities

• Define and manage mechanical design requirements, ensuring validation and verification.
• Lead mechanical integration, verification and testing with evidence collection.
• Create and peer review mechanical artefacts and design data packs.
• Define and document predicted mechanical behaviours and performance.
• Optimise designs for various manufacturing technologies (machining, casting, sheet metal).
• Perform tolerance analysis of close-tolerance parts and assemblies.
• Produce designs for complex systems meeting MIL-STD/DEF‑STAN, EMC and TEMPEST.
• Create/ review drawings to BS8888 standards and select suitable materials.
• Interface with production, supply chain, electronics and PCB teams.
• Champion continuous improvement and data-driven workflow changes.

Skills

Mechanical integration

V&V activities

Write mechanical requirements

GD&T

DfAM

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Mentoring

Education

Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Creo CAD

Windchill PLM

ERP integration

Job description

Ultra Electronics seeks a Principal Mechanical Engineer to provide technical leadership across design, development, testing and qualification of mechanical assemblies for advanced security-critical products.

You will lead mechanical activities from concept through production, ensuring designs meet functional, environmental and regulatory requirements, while mentoring junior engineers and driving engineering excellence across the team.