UAV Mechanical Design Engineer

SubSea Craft Limited; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension contribution

Annual bonus

Life assurance & critical illness

Private healthcare

Professional development

Flexible working

Annual leave 25 days + holidays

Wellbeing day

Inclusive culture

Job summary

SubSea Craft Limited is seeking a UAV Mechanical Design Engineer to join a fast-paced Research Engineering team in the UK. You will contribute to concept and detailed design, prototype UAS platforms, and perform hands-on assembly work.

The role emphasizes pragmatic, iterative development with a “fail fast, learn faster” mindset, and involves travel abroad and collaboration with multiple internal teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or higher degree in an associated engineering discipline.
• Engineering creativity, a desire not just do but excel and push boundaries.
• Demonstrable design/build experience with unmanned aerial systems (fixed-wing and/or multirotor).

Responsibilities

• Assist in the ongoing development of special-purpose Unmanned Aerial Systems for the maritime domain.
• Rapid prototyping of UAS systems and subsystems, from concept to fully functioning prototypes.
• Assist with the mechanical, electrical, and system-level design of UAS platforms.
• Undertake a combination of office-based design work and hands-on practical workshop tasks to support prototype builds, including mechanical and electrical assembly.
• Assist with sensor integration.
• Support the execution of test and validation activities both on-site (e.g. test rigs) and when required; off-site during system/flight testing at external test locations.
• Liaise with other business units (e.g. trials team, commercial, procurement, manufacturing, etc.).
• Occasional travel abroad.
• Work with external partners on component procurement and legislative/compliance requirements.
• Assist with other tasks (outside of UAS) as required by the business.

Skills

UAS design/build experience

Engineering creativity

Flexibility

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Job description

• Salary: Up to £50,000pa
• Full Time
• Permanent

Who we are: SubSea Craft is a fast growing, privately-funded, UK-based innovative maritime technology company specialising in next-generation, high-performance watercraft and systems.

What we offer

• Pension Contribution – Pension scheme with the option to contribute via salary sacrifice.
• Annual Bonus Scheme – Eligibility to participate in the company’s annual discretionary bonus scheme, linked to individual and company performance.
• Life Assurance and Critical Illness Cover – Comprehensive protection including Life Assurance (4x salary) and Critical Illness Cover for added financial security.
• Annual Leave – Entitlement to 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Christmas Leave – A Christmas shutdown is typically observed.
• Wellbeing Day – An additional Wellbeing Day each year to focus on personal health and wellbeing.
• Family Leave – Enhanced maternity and paternity pay.
• Private Healthcare – Access to comprehensive private healthcare coverage to support your physical and mental wellbeing.
• Professional Development – Commitment to ongoing learning and career growth, supported by training programmes and access to LinkedIn Learning.
• Flexible Working Opportunities
• Inclusive Culture – A professional environment that values diversity, innovation, and collaboration.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a UAV Mechanical Design Engineer with a keen interest in developing and prototyping special-purpose Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to join our small but fast-paced Research Engineering team. The role involves a mixture of conceptual and detailed design across multiple engineering disciplines, as well as hands-on workshop tasks and the assembly of prototype UAS platforms. The ideal candidate is someone who takes a pragmatic approach to solving engineering challenges using an iterative development process, with the mindset of "fail fast, learn faster."

Responsibilities

• Assist in the ongoing development of special-purpose Unmanned Aerial Systems for the maritime domain.
• Rapid prototyping of UAS systems and subsystems, from concept to fully functioning prototypes.
• Assist with the mechanical, electrical, and system-level design of UAS platforms.
• Undertake a combination of office-based design work and hands-on practical workshop tasks to support prototype builds, including mechanical and electrical assembly.
• Assist with sensor integration.
• Support the execution of test and validation activities both on-site (e.g. test rigs) and when required; off-site during system/flight testing at external test locations.
• Liaise with other business units (e.g. trials team, commercial, procurement, manufacturing, etc.).
• Occasional travel abroad.
• Work with external partners on component procurement and legislative/compliance requirements.
• Assist with other tasks (outside of UAS) as required by the business.

Required

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s or higher degree in an associated engineering discipline.
• Engineering creativity, a desire not just do but excel and push boundaries.
• Demonstrable design/build experience with unmanned aerial systems (fixed-wing and/or multirotor).

Desirable:

• Understanding of flight dynamics across platform designs (fixed/rotary wing).
• Understanding of material properties and selection criteria for a specific task.
• Understanding of manufacturing processes and design for manufcture
• Understanding of configuration control process and importance of implementation.
• Understanding of GD&T drawing methodology.
• Flexibility and adaptability.

What To Bring

Passion… we’d love to see what you can do and how you communicate ideas. Use the interview as your opportunity to showcase an idea, concept or thing you are proud of. Present it critically, tell us what worked and more importantly what could have been improved.

Values:

Our people are our greatest asset, we continually strive to provide an excellent working environment to enable our team to do their best work. We have an agile professional workforce: we are founded on the belief that our people are valued and our business is trusted, inclusive and commercially-adept.

Note: Due to the nature of work undertaken at SubSea Craft, the selected candidate must be capable of meeting the security requirements of the position, which would include as a minimum existing right to live and work in the UK, Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), with UK National security clearance required for certain roles.

We are committed to building an inclusive, diverse workplace where everyone can thrive. If you require any support or adjustments to interact with us, please let us know.

• Please note that all offers of employment are conditional and subject to satisfactory DBS, driving licence and reference checks. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify candidates from employment. We will consider criminal record information alongside the wider range of evidence gathered at the application, interview, and pre-employment checking stages.

Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to respond to everyone. If you are shortlisted, we will aim to contact you within 14 days of your application or the closing date (if stated). We may retain your details for future suitable roles unless you advise us otherwise.

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