Design Engineer

The Opportunity: As Design Engineer you will play a pivotal role within the design department, taking full ownership of projects from initial concept right through to completion. You will produce innovative, high-quality design solutions for a wide range of bespoke engineered products working on live projects for some of the most prestigious organisations in the UK. You will report directly into the Design Manager and work closely with the Production Manager, Project Managers, and installation teams, ensuring your designs are accurate, compliant, and delivered on time. Your input will extend beyond pure design contributing to pre-sale solutions, marketing visuals, and continuous product improvement.

Your Responsibilities:

• Use SolidWorks to create concept designs and virtual prototypes across a diverse range of bespoke products, taking designs from initial client brief through to final completion.
• Produce detailed technical drawings for all manufacturing processes both internal fabrication and external suppliers ensuring clarity, accuracy, and buildability at every stage.
• Produce technical drawings for installation and liaise directly with installation teams to ensure smooth, on-specification delivery on site.
• Work in close collaboration with the Production Manager and Project Managers to manage design timelines, meet project deadlines, and ensure designs are produced efficiently.
• Ensure all designs are legally compliant with relevant regulations and industry standards.
• Monitor the manufacturing process to verify products are being built in accordance with the approved design.
• Incorporate feedback from production and installation engineers to continuously streamline and improve designs.
• Drive continuous improvement across the full product range, proactively identifying opportunities to enhance quality, efficiency, and value.
• Produce detailed materials requisition lists to support procurement planning.
• Assist with pre-sale design solutions and contribute to costing exercises in support of the commercial team.
• Assist with marketing design and visuals, helping to present the company's capabilities to the highest standard.
• Maintain awareness of industry trends, emerging technologies, and evolving best practice in design and manufacture.

Skills & Experience Required:

• Demonstrable experience in the design of automated gate systems, barriers, turnstiles, or access control products.
• Sound working knowledge of access control systems, including mechanical integration with electronic control and actuation components.
• Proficient in SolidWorks and AutoCAD hands-on experience producing complex assemblies and detailed technical drawings in a professional engineering environment.
• Strong knowledge of metal fabrication and welding processes, with the ability to design with those processes in mind.
• Knowledge of sheet metal folding and forming processes.
• Ability to carry out mechanical calculations to validate and support design decisions, including load, force, and structural integrity assessments relevant to gate and barrier applications.
• Experience with FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to support structural and mechanical validation of designs.
• Familiarity with the regulatory and compliance landscape applicable to automated gates, barriers, and access control including relevant machinery directives and safety standards.
• Methodical thinker with excellent attention to detail and a rigorous approach to problem-solving.
• A confident and effective communicator equally comfortable presenting to clients and coordinating with internal stakeholders across design, production, and project management.
• Commercially aware, with a sound understanding of how design decisions impact cost, programme, and margin.
• Strong planning and time management skills, with the ability to manage concurrent workstreams without compromising quality.
• Excellent reporting skills able to communicate clearly both upwards to the Design Manager and downwards to production and installation teams.
• A genuine willingness to learn the technical detail of the products and the sectors served.
• A 'can do' attitude and the resilience to thrive in a fast-moving, bespoke engineering environment.

What's on Offer:

• Competitive salary commensurate with your experience and capability.
• Full-time, permanent position within a stable, well-funded, and growing business.
• Real career progression this is a company that promotes from within and invests in its people for the long term.
• The chance to work on genuinely high-profile, technically complex, bespoke projects for prestigious clients.
• A collaborative, skilled team environment with real depth of engineering expertise around you.
• Exposure to new sectors, markets, and geographies as the business expands both domestically and internationally.
• The security and backing of a wider group, combined with the culture and energy of a specialist business with its best years ahead of it.

Why Join Now: The business is entering a defining period of growth. With a strong order book, a growing pipeline across public and private sectors, new geographies opening up, and a strategy built on quality and innovation, the design function is being strengthened to match that ambition. The person who joins now will be well-positioned to grow into a senior role as the team expands. If you want a role where your skills will be fully stretched, your contribution genuinely valued, and your career actively supported this is the right move.