Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

Our client can demonstrate almost half a century's expertise in the design, development and manufacture of bespoke automation and robotic systems for a diverse range of industry sectors and are regarded by many in the industry as one of the leading automation system solution providers in the whole of the UK. As a result of continued success and a planned programme of strategic growth, they are now seeking to recruit an experienced Lead / Senior Mechanical Design Engineer to complement their established and successful team and deliver innovative special purpose automation machinery projects.

Based near Leicester and tasked with both designing and overseeing an array of special purpose machine projects from order acceptance to customer hand over, the successful Senior Mechanical Design Engineer candidate will be responsible for the design, detailing and successful delivery of multiple projects, communicating effectively with customers, suppliers and team members as required and working as part of a team dedicated to delivering projects on time and within budget.

After attending sales hand over meetings and committing to an overall project plan and budget, you will perform mechanical design and detailing functions for multiple projects allocated to you using 3D CAD within the time allocated in the project plan, and will arrange Design Reviews during the design process to ensure they are well executed, meet overall requirements, are designed for assembly, robust & reliable operation, and meet or better budgetary constraints whilst minimising any development issues that may arise.

You will also obtain a Design Pass Off by the customer on time and to project plan and ensure that BOM's are produced on time and within budget, and will negotiate with external suppliers in order to obtain the most cost–efficient materials in line with project budgets and timing plans. You will also be responsible for assisting the electrical design process by communicating clearly and effectively through the duration of the project and especially through the mechanical design phase, and will compile a build folder and communicate build details to the machine tool fitters to ensure an efficient build process.

Other responsibilities for this varied and challenging Senior Mechanical Design Engineer role will include providing direction and support to fitters, electricians and other engineers within the team as required, and undertaking visits to customer sites as appropriate to fully understand the customer requirements and to obtain measurements for all dimensions, drawings, site layouts and other considerations, and will document and communicate all such requirements to the customer and internal staff respectively.

You will assess and improve design concepts along with a team at sales quotation stage to reduce risks, costs, lead times and be skilled in identifying key risks and assist in compiling plans for trials to reduce them. You will obtain all parts, samples and drawings necessary in advance to ensure these can be checked and used through the design phase and will check the design work produced by other designers to ensure accuracy of design work, as well as conducting project reviews with customers on a periodic basis and reporting on the status of each project whilst constructing and maintaining a comprehensive Technical Construction File (TCF) which includes manuals, risk assessments, mechanical parts list and drawings.

Other duties will include carrying out machine risk assessments during the design phase to ensure Machinery Directive requirements are met and leading projects during the development and installation phases of the project with pro–active and timely delivery of "problem fixes" whilst ensuring that all H&S and safety rules, guidelines and policies are understood and adhered to at all times.

To be considered for this varied and challenging role it is envisaged that the successful candidate will demonstrate considerable competence and experience in mechanical design, robotics, automation, design of mechanical mechanisms and pneumatic systems and will realistically be Degree qualified/HNC/HND or equivalent in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related discipline with a minimum of 7 years' experience in a mechanical design role ideally related to automation machinery.

You will be an expert user of 3D parametric CAD package, ideally Solid–edge however use of Solid–works, Inventor, Creo etc would also be considered, and will demonstrate a proven track record of successfully delivering mechanical design projects to required timescale and budgetary constraints. Knowledge and understanding of the various national and international standards for machine design and machine safety systems and requirements to CE mark machine systems is required, as is a self–motivated positive "can do" approach to problem solving.

You will be commercially aware of the actions and responsibilities of your role when dealing with customers and able to communicate effectively at all levels and demonstrate a track record of being part of a multi–disciplined team to solving problems.