Lead Composite Structural Engineer Marine in Portsmouth

SubSea Craft is a fast growing, privately-funded, UK-based innovative maritime technology company specialising in next-generation, high-performance watercraft and systems. We operate at the intersection of advanced engineering, cutting-edge design, and user-centric innovation, delivering safe, effective, and enabling solutions for both commercial and defence applications. We are seeking an experienced Composite Structural Engineer with expertise in the marine industry to lead the composite engineering team at SSC. This role will focus on the design, analysis, and detailing of composite structures from concept to construction. The successful candidate will be skilled in structural calculations for compliance with classification society and ISO standards. They should also have a solid understanding of composite materials and an aptitude for producing high-quality engineering drawings.

What We Offer

• Annual Leave: 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays
• Wellbeing Day: An additional Wellbeing Day each year to focus on personal health and wellbeing
• Private Healthcare: Access to comprehensive private healthcare coverage to support your physical and mental wellbeing
• Life Assurance and Critical Illness Cover: Comprehensive protection including Life Assurance (4x salary) and Critical Illness Cover
• Family Leave: Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Christmas Leave: A Christmas shutdown is typically observed
• Professional Development: Commitment to ongoing learning and career growth, supported by training programmes and access to LinkedIn Learning
• Pension Contribution: Pension scheme with the option to contribute via salary sacrifice
• Flexible Working: Opportunities for flexible working arrangements to promote work-life balance
• Inclusive Culture: A professional environment that values diversity, innovation, and collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Set and maintain the technical direction for composite structural engineering within SSC, ensuring best-practice methodologies, tools, and standards are consistently applied.
• Perform detailed calculations for carbon fibre and glass fibre structures to ensure safety, reliability and performance.
• Design structures in accordance with classification society regulations and ISO standards, preparing documentation for regulatory submissions.
• Use optimisation techniques and FEA tools to refine structures for weight, strength, fatigue life and ease of manufacture.
• Contribute to the progression of composite structures from concept and scantling definition through detailed engineering, prototyping, testing and final production release.
• Generate comprehensive submission and fabrication drawings with clarity and precision for manufacturing.
• Communicate with classification societies and other regulatory bodies for approvals and guidance.
• Maintain close communication with stakeholders to ensure project alignment.
• Provide technical support during the build phase, responding to structural queries from the shop floor and providing well considered solutions.
• Oversee specific build activities related to composite structures, ensuring adherence to design specifications and quality standards.
• Work collaboratively with other departments and design teams to ensure holistic integration of composite structures across the vessel.
• Lead, support, and develop the composite engineering team at SSC, providing mentorship, guidance on complex engineering challenges, and performance feedback.

Qualifications And Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in a similar role within the marine industry, specialising in composite structures.
• Proficiency in carbon and glass fibre laminate calculations and design.
• Experience with Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD is highly desirable.
• Experience with engineering simulation tools for laminate analysis and structural assessment is essential (i.e. FEA).
• Chartered Engineer status in a relevant discipline or actively working towards Chartership.
• Strong understanding of ISO and classification society standards applicable to composite marine structures.
• Excellent technical communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Strong problem-solving ability and attention to detail in design and production processes.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, demonstrating initiative and adaptability.

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, BPSS, with UK National security clearance required for certain roles.

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.

What We Expect From You

• Teamwork, mutual respect and collaboration
• Initiative and independent working
• Honesty and integrity
• Business and commercial awareness
• Agility, adaptability and continuous development

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. We regret that due to the high volume of applications we are unable to acknowledge every application. Please bear in mind that if you are selected for an interview we will aim to contact you within 14 days of your application or the closing date (if stated). If we think that your skills and qualifications may be suitable for other similar positions we may hold your details on our database and contact you in the future. Please let us know if you do not wish us to keep your details on file.