Principle Design Engineer

Owen Daniels; Crick; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading engineering company in the UK is seeking a Principle Design Engineer to lead teams in mechanical design for aerospace interiors. The role involves overseeing full product development, interfacing with clients to ensure compliance with standards, and managing the use of CAD tools like CATIA and SolidWorks. Candidates should have proven leadership skills and experience in aerospace product development. This position offers a permanent contract with flexible remote work options.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience managing technical teams.
• Confident in Mechanical Design using CAD tools.
• Experience in product development for aerospace interiors.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of Mechanical Engineers.
• Oversee full lifecycle product development of aerospace components.
• Serve as the primary engineering interface with customers.
• Drive disciplined engineering processes and documentation.
• Specify and validate materials to ensure compliance.

Skills

Leadership experience

Mechanical Design expertise

Experience with interior components

Proficiency in CAD software

Tools

CATIA V5

SolidWorks

Siemens NX

Job description

Principle Design Engineer

Permanent Opportunity

7:30‑4 Mon‑Thurs, 7:30‑1:00 Fridays

1 day remote working available

Northampton

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of Mechanical Engineers, providing technical direction, coaching, workload prioritization, and ensuring high-quality engineering output
• Oversee full lifecycle product development for aerospace interior components—from trade studies, DFMEA/PFMEA execution, concept generation, detailed design, and prototyping through to testing, certification support, and production release
• Serve as the primary engineering interface with customers, driving requirements definition, technical reviews, design trade-offs, and aftermarket support to ensure solutions meet performance, cost, manufacturability, and regulatory expectations
• Drive disciplined engineering processes including GD&T, robust documentation within PLM systems (SmartTeam, Teamcenter), utilising CAD tools such as CATIA V5, Siemens NX, or SolidWorks for high-integrity design outputs
• Specify and validate materials—including metals, reinforced composites, plastics, and fabrics—ensuring design compliance with aerospace standards, manufacturability constraints, and long‑term product reliability

Essential Skills and Experience

• Proven leadership experience
• Confident in Mechanical Design having used Catia (will consider other software experienced e.g. Solidworks, NX)
• Experience working with interiors