Principal Mechanical Engineer

Babcock International; Hessle; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday allowance

Matched contribution pension scheme

Digital GP & health check

Employee share scheme

Employee shopping savings portal

Payment of Professional Fees

Reservists in the armed forces leave

Be Kind Day – paid volunteering leave

Development opportunities & wellbeing

Job summary

Cavendish Nuclear, part of the Babcock International Group, is recruiting a Principal Mechanical Engineer to provide technical leadership across major programmes in the Humber region. The role involves guiding engineering strategy and ensuring safe, high-quality, commercially successful solutions while working with multidisciplinary teams, suppliers and stakeholders.

The position is full-time with hybrid working and requires the ability to achieve BPSS security clearance.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading mechanical engineering activities on complex projects.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary teams and managing engineering interfaces.
• Strong understanding of the full engineering lifecycle, from concept and design through to commissioning.
• Experience working in highly regulated or safety-critical environments.
• Knowledge of mechanical design, risk assessment methodologies and technical leadership.

Responsibilities

• Leading the development of mechanical engineering solutions for complex and high-profile projects.
• Managing project scope, priorities and delivery plans to meet customer requirements.
• Collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, suppliers and stakeholders to resolve technical challenges.
• Ensuring all engineering work complies with safety, quality and regulatory standards.
• Providing technical leadership, guidance and assurance to support successful project delivery and team development.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Interface management

Engineering lifecycle

Safety-critical environments

Education

Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Job description

As a Principal Mechanical Engineer, you'll provide technical leadership across major engineering programmes, shaping engineering strategy and ensuring the delivery of innovative, safe and commercially successful solutions. You'll influence project outcomes, support customer success and play a key role in developing engineering capability across the business. Working with multidisciplinary teams, suppliers and key stakeholders, you'll be responsible for driving technical excellence while ensuring projects are delivered to the highest standards of safety, quality and performance. This is an opportunity to make a lasting impact on nationally significant programmes while advancing your career within a leading engineering organisation. Day-to-day, you will be:

Responsibilities

• Leading the development of mechanical engineering solutions for complex and high-profile projects.
• Managing project scope, priorities and delivery plans to meet customer requirements.
• Collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, suppliers and stakeholders to resolve technical challenges.
• Ensuring all engineering work complies with safety, quality and regulatory standards.
• Providing technical leadership, guidance and assurance to support successful project delivery and team development.

This is a full-time, permanent opportunity working 37 hours per week, with hybrid working arrangements available and an expectation to be onsite three days per week at our Hessle or Grimsby office.

Qualifications & Experience

• Proven experience leading mechanical engineering activities on complex projects.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary teams and managing engineering interfaces.
• Strong understanding of the full engineering lifecycle, from concept and design through to commissioning.
• Experience working in highly regulated or safety-critical environments.
• Knowledge of mechanical design, risk assessment methodologies and technical leadership.

Qualifications for the Principal Mechanical Engineer: Degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline., The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Standard (BPSS) security clearance for this role. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

At Cavendish Nuclear, we're working to create a safe and secure world, together. If you join us, you can play your part as a Principal Mechanical Engineer at our Hessle or Grimsby sites. Cavendish Nuclear is expanding in the Humber region and now recruiting within our new office in Grimsby, as well as current office in Hessle. This is a unique opportunity to join a growing business and help deliver some of the UK's most complex and safety-critical programmes across clean energy, nuclear decommissioning and defence.

What we offer

• Generous holiday allowance
• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• Employee share scheme
• Employee shopping savings portal
• Payment of Professional Fees
• Reservists in the armed forces receive 10-days special paid leave
• Holiday Trading is a benefit that allows UK Cavendish employees to buy additional leave or to sell up to one working week of annual leave from their annual entitlement. This Window opens February through to March annually.
• 'Be Kind Day' enables employees to take one working day's paid leave a year (or equivalent hours) to undertake volunteering work with their chosen organisation or registered charity
• Excellent development opportunities and benefits package including an employee assistance programme supporting physical, mental and financial wellbeing.

Cavendish We're Cavendish Nuclear - a team of c5,000 specialists and a core part of Babcock International Group. Here, you'll be part of something bigger. Across clean energy, defence, and civil decommissioning, your work will contribute to projects that are critical to energy security and national protection. Together, we're shaping a future that lasts - not only through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance.