Senior Materials, Structures & Thermal Engineer - Aerospace

Matchtech; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity participation

Professional development

Job summary

Matchtech is seeking a Senior/Principal Materials, Structures and Thermal Engineer for a defence and security client in the UK. You will own structural and thermal design across the vehicle, lead materials selection and influence technical decisions.

Join a small, senior team delivering a multi-year programme from concept through testing, with autonomy in a fast-moving environment and opportunities for professional development and equity participation.

Qualifications

• Degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Materials Science or related discipline.
• Significant experience in materials, structures and/or thermal engineering within aerospace, UAV, defence or high-reliability sectors.
• Experience across full design lifecycle from concept through detailed analysis and testing.
• Proficiency with FEA tools such as ANSYS, Abaqus, Nastran or similar.
• Experience in materials selection, properties characterisation, supplier management and QA.

Responsibilities

• Lead materials selection for aerospace structures and components, balancing performance, manufacturability, cost and availability.
• Develop and maintain materials property data, coordinate supplier evaluations and oversee QA for parts.
• Lead structural design from concept to detailed analysis, sizing and margin of safety assessments.
• Develop structural models using hand calculations, first-principles methods and FEA.
• Lead thermal design and analysis, including heat transfer modelling and thermal management studies.
• Interpret results against test data and support design reviews and trade studies.
• Present findings to stakeholders and contribute to roadmapping and standards.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring within a lean team.

Skills

Structural analysis

Thermal analysis

Materials selection

Analytical thinking

Leadership

Education

Degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Materials Science

Tools

ANSYS

Abaqus

Nastran

Python

MATLAB

Thermal Desktop

Job description

Matchtech is seeking a Senior/Principal Materials, Structures and Thermal Engineer for a defence and security client in the UK. You will own structural and thermal design across the vehicle, lead materials selection and influence technical decisions.

Join a small, senior team delivering a multi-year programme from concept through testing, with autonomy in a fast-moving environment and opportunities for professional development and equity participation.