Senior Brake & Tyre Modelling Engineer

At McLaren, our mission is to set the standard for high performance in sport. Everyone, in every part of the team, has a role to play. High performance starts with you.

Purpose of the Role

This role will report into the Head of Brake Performance and work in close collaboration with the Tyre team to develop a common model and approach. Responsibilities include:

• Model brake performance, correlating simulations to track and test data, and looking to make correlation improvements.
• Analyse and understand the impact of brake performance on overall vehicle performance.
• Use tyre & brake understanding to drive car development to optimise performance.
• Communicate tyre & brake understanding to Vehicle Performance, Race Engineering, and the wider Engineering Department.
• Continuously develop methods and processes to increase modelling efficiency and capability.

Principal Accountabilities

• Innovate, proposing and developing new ideas & concepts.
• Identify actionable performance development opportunities.
• Develop industry-leading tyre & brake simulation tools and analysis methods and support their use.
• Prepare & conduct pre-event and season scans for optimal brake duct solutions for race events.
• Correlate tyre & brake models & simulations against track and test data.
• Generate clear and well-documented code.
• Provide technical assistance to the broader team.
• Produce and communicate insightful, high-quality brake and tyre analysis in challenging timeframes.
• Make a significant contribution to the level of tyre & brake understanding within the team.
• Occasionally support trackside operations in real time from Mission Control.
• Support the Head of Brake Performance and Head of Tyres in maintaining delivery across the Group.
• Interact effectively with other groups within Vehicle Performance, Race Engineering, and the wider Engineering Department.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree, PhD or equivalent in Engineering, Physics or Applied Mathematics (or similar).
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience of tyre and/or brake performance, modelling & analysis, preferably in an F1 setting.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience in tyre modelling, simulation and correlation.
• Experienced in using MATLAB for modelling and analysis.
• Strong data-driven analysis skills, with the ability to identify and extract key data.
• Experience correlating models against incomplete or challenging datasets.
• Broad understanding of race car setup trade-offs between tyres, brakes, suspension and aerodynamics (preferred).
• Experienced user of: MATLAB (required), Vehicle Dynamics simulation tools (required), ATLAS or similar analysis tools (required), Version control (preferred), C++ (preferred).

Personal Attributes

• Able to integrate quickly into the team, working effectively with others.
• Strong organisational and problem-solving skills.
• Self-motivated and able to work with minimal direction to drive forward brake & tyre performance.
• Uses initiative and is decisive.
• Excellent communication skills, able to tailor delivery style appropriate to the audience.
• Works calmly and effectively under pressure.
• High attention to detail with an unbiased, objective approach.
• First class written and oral communication skills, delivering complex information in a style appropriate to the audience.
• Able to follow vehicle development directions and understand their impact on tyre performance.
• Flexible in approach, able to handle rapid & profound changes of scope, direction and process.
• Willingness to engage with, learn from and share knowledge with others.
• Innovative, moving us fearlessly forward by proposing new methods and ideas to improve our ways of working.

What McLaren can offer?

We constantly strive to be better tomorrow than we are today. Our ambition is to be the most pioneering and exhilarating racing team in the world, and our collective task is to set the standards for high performance in sport. We encourage and support diversity, equity and inclusion. We will actively promote a culture that values difference and eliminates discrimination in our workplace.

McLaren Racing is based at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) near Woking. Our state of the art, sustainable campus offers many facilities including a gym, restaurant and indoor and outdoor break-out areas, as well as direct access to park and common land. The MTC is connected to Woking mainline station via regular shuttle buses, from which London Waterloo is a 30 minute train ride. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including private healthcare, car schemes, life insurance and generous pension contributions.