Product Design Engineer in Bradford

Location: Concept House, Brackenbeck Road, Bradford, BD7 2LW

Reports To: Technical Manager

Salary: Salary is negotiable and will reflect the successful candidate’s skills, experience and qualifications.

Job Purpose: Debar designs and manufactures bifold door hardware and complete bifold door systems for customers in the UK and international markets. As we invest in future growth, new product development and the continued improvement of our existing product portfolio, we are creating a new Product Design Engineer position within our Technical Engineering team. The primary focus of the role will be the ongoing engineering integrity, design improvement and evolution of Debar's released products. The successful candidate will investigate product issues, develop engineering solutions and lead the technical content of product changes. While the principal focus will be existing products, the role will also contribute to larger product improvements and new development projects according to business priorities and team capacity. Our products integrate precision mechanical hardware with aluminium profiles, requiring strong mechanical design judgement and an understanding of how changes can affect the performance of the wider bifold door system.

Key Responsibilities:

• Take technical design ownership of engineering issues and improvements relating to Debar's existing bifold hardware, systems and wider released product portfolio.
• Investigate product failures, recurring issues, customer complaints and warranty matters, developing robust engineering solutions and corrective product improvements where required.
• Redesign components and assemblies where required to improve performance, reliability, durability or cost.
• Assess the wider impact of proposed changes on mating components, aluminium profiles and overall system performance.
• Carry out tolerance analysis and tolerance stack-ups where required to resolve fit, function or performance issues.
• Lead the engineering content of product change requests, ensuring changes are properly assessed, documented and progressed through Debar's engineering change process.
• Create and update 3D CAD models, assemblies, manufacturing drawings, specifications and Bills of Materials associated with product changes.
• Own and maintain the technical content of documentation for released products, including end-user, fabrication and installation manuals, technical bulletins and supporting product information.
• Maintain accurate technical product data and configurations within relevant industry software, including Logikal, ensuring that approved profiles, hardware, rules and product changes are correctly reflected.
• Support product changes arising from supplier changes, material changes, component availability, obsolescence or alternative manufacturing requirements.
• Identify and progress opportunities for proactive product improvement and value engineering.

Testing, Technical Issues & Collaboration:

• Work collaboratively with Debar's Compliance & Testing function to support testing or validation required as a result of product changes.
• Support prototype components, trials and validation activity where required.
• Liaise with customers, system partners and internal commercial teams on technical issues relating to existing products, investigating concerns and developing appropriate engineering solutions.
• Work with suppliers on technical issues, alternative components, tooling changes and manufacturing feasibility.
• Communicate the technical implications of product changes clearly to relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Product Development Support:

• Contribute to larger improvements and enhancements to Debar's existing bifold hardware and systems.
• Support new product and system development projects according to business priorities and Technical Engineering resource requirements.
• Work collaboratively with Product Development engineers on projects requiring shared expertise or additional capacity.

Person Specification:

• Essential Qualifications, Skills & Experience:
• Degree, HND or equivalent recognised higher-level qualification in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Engineering or a closely related discipline.
• A relevant formal qualification is mandatory.
• Relevant professional experience in mechanical design, product design or product development engineering.
• Strong capability in parametric 3D CAD and manufacturing-ready engineering drawings.
• Experience designing and modifying physical products or components for manufacture.
• Strong understanding of Design for Manufacture, dimensional tolerances, engineering fits and tolerance stack-up analysis.
• Practical understanding of mechanical engineering, materials and relevant manufacturing processes.
• Strong mechanical problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to progress engineering work independently while collaborating effectively across different functions.

Particularly Valuable Experience:

• Experience in any of the following would be particularly valuable:
• Fenestration, windows, doors, aluminium architectural systems or other moving door systems.
• Mechanical or architectural hardware such as hinges, rollers, guides, handles or locks.
• Small precision components involving aluminium extrusions, zinc or aluminium castings, mouldings or CNC-machined parts.
• Product sustaining engineering, continuous product improvement or engineering change.
• Failure investigation, corrective product redesign, value engineering or component substitution.
• Product testing, validation, tooling or supplier development.
• Autodesk Inventor is strongly preferred; experienced SolidWorks, Creo or comparable CAD users will also be considered.
• AutoCAD and ERP experience would be beneficial.
• Producing controlled technical product documentation or maintaining product and configuration data within Logikal or comparable industry software.
• Direct experience designing or improving bifold door hardware or systems would be particularly valuable but is not an essential requirement.

Attributes:

• Practical, curious and interested in understanding how mechanical products perform and can be improved.
• Methodical and detail-conscious when managing engineering changes.
• Able to balance product performance, quality, manufacturability and cost.
• Collaborative, self-motivated and comfortable taking technical ownership of defined issues and projects.

Working Conditions:

• Full-time, permanent role based primarily at Debar’s Bradford facility, with one day per week homeworking currently available.
• Occasional travel may be required for supplier visits, product trials, customer projects or testing.