Senior Mechanical Handling Engineer

weServed; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday allowance

Pension with life assurance

Employee benefits portal

Professional fees paid

Special leave for Reservists

Job summary

Babcock is recruiting a Senior Mechanical Handling Engineer for the Devonport Royal Dockyard. You will join the Submarine Defuel Delivery Project (SDDP) and help design, develop and implement mechanical handling and defuel tooling systems to safely defuel submarines.

You will work with the Design Manager and project teams to deliver safe, compliant engineering solutions.

Qualifications

• Experience designing mechanical handling systems and lifting equipment.
• Knowledge of safety requirements and quality standards.
• Experience with engineering design justifications.
• Experience with technical design development and problem solving.

Responsibilities

• Deliver mechanical handling and defuel tooling engineering activities to scope, schedule, cost and quality.
• Update design documentation to as-built status.
• Ensure compliance with quality management and engineering standards.
• Support project documentation and configuration management.
• Identify hazards and support risk assessments.
• Address and close out technical queries and change requests.

Skills

Mechanical handling design

Lifting equipment

Regulated industry experience

Engineering problem solving

Safety and quality standards

Education

Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Engineering software

Job description

Job Title: Senior Mechanical Handling Engineer

Location: Plymouth, Devon

Compensation: £44,600 - £55,800 + Benefits

Role Type: Full time / Permanent

Role ID: SF74464

Help shape the future of nuclear engineering and national security

At Babcock we're working to create a safe and secure world, together, and if you join us, you can play your part as a Senior Mechanical Handling Engineer at our Devonport Royal Dockyard site.

The role

As aSenior Mechanical Handling Engineer, you'll have an exciting opportunity to join the Submarine Defuel Delivery Project (SDDP), a major programme supporting critical national infrastructure. Working as part of a highly skilled engineering team, you'll contribute to the design, development and implementation of specialist mechanical handling and defuel tooling systems that support the safe defueling of submarines. Your expertise will help deliver complex engineering solutions that make a real difference, while offering excellent opportunities for career development within one of the UK's leading defence, aerospace and engineering organisations.

Day-to-day, you'll support the delivery of innovative engineering solutions within a technically challenging and rewarding environment. Working closely with the Design Manager and wider project teams, you'll be responsible for delivering mechanical handling and lifting equipment design activities, ensuring solutions meet the highest standards of safety, quality and performance.

• Deliver mechanical handling and defuel tooling engineering activities to agreed scope, schedule, cost and quality requirements.
• Update and review detailed design documentation (primarily design reports and OMM's) to as-built status.
• Ensure compliance with quality management processes, engineering standards and Babcock's Business Management System.
• Support configuration management, quality control activities and the maintenance of accurate project documentation.
• Promote safe working practices by identifying hazards, supporting risk assessments and communicating engineering risks effectively.
• Addressing and close-out of TQ's/CR's.

This role is full time, 35 hours per week and requires regular travel to HMNB Devonport on a monthly basis alongside home working arrangements.

Essential experience of the Senior Mechanical Handling Engineer

• Experience designing mechanical handling systems and lifting equipment, ideally within highly regulated industries such as nuclear and defence.
• Strong understanding of engineering design principles, safety requirements and quality standards.
• Working knowledge of relevant engineering software and computer-based engineering applications.
• Experience producing and supporting engineering design justifications.
• Demonstrable experience in technical design development and engineering problem-solving.

Qualifications for the Senior Mechanical Handling Engineer

• Degree, or equivalent qualification, in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.

Security Clearance

The successful candidate must be a sole UK National who is able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role.

Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

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 Babcock employees to buy additional leave or to sell up to one working week of annual leave from their annual entitlement. There is an annual Window to request this benefit. '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.

Babcock

We're Babcock - a global FTSE 100 organisation with over 26,000 people working together to make a difference.

Here, you'll be part of something bigger. From initial design to final decommissioning, your work will contribute to products and services that are essential to national security and public infrastructure. Together, we're building a future that lasts - not just through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance.

We call that lifetime engineering.

Join us and see how far we can go, together.

We are a disability confident committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please email [e-mail] with the subject header 'Reasonable adjustments requirement'. We're committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone's free to thrive. We are happy to talk about flexible working - please ask about alternative patterns of work at interview.

Closing date: 24/09/2026

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