Advanced Mechanical Design Engineer; Thermal Runaway

Position: Advanced Mechanical Design Engineer (Thermal Runaway)
Our Mission At Vertical Aerospace, we are pioneering the way for electric aviation. The Valo, our eVTOL (electric, vertical, take-off and landing), 'zero emissions' aircraft will set a new safety standard for how we will navigate the sky.

We won't realise our mission following the same legacy processes and traditions our predecessors followed, instead, we want to 'redefine' aerospace best practices. We are growing quickly from a prototype business to a scaling SME, and the next few years will be critical to our success and delivering on our ambitious goals. Valo is targeting airliner-level safety certification in 2029 ahead of entering service with our airline and operator customers.

What to Expect As an Advanced Mechanical Design Engineer (Thermal Runaway), you will join our Energy Storage team, working on one of the most critical safety challenges in electric aviation: thermal runaway prevention, mitigation and containment.

You will play a key role in progressing thermal runaway testing, analysing test data, and translating insights into robust mechanical designs, simulations and qualification strategies. This role sits at the heart of our battery safety and certification journey.

A typical day could involve supporting live thermal runaway tests, analysing results to inform next-stage design or simulation, collaborating with stress and manufacturing teams, or developing qualification strategies for novel materials and components.

This role is well suited to an engineer who enjoys technically complex problems, thrives in fast-paced development environments, and wants to own meaningful safety-critical hardware.

What You’ll DoSupport and progress thermal runaway testing activities at cell, module and pack level

Analyse thermal runaway test data to guide simulation, design, manufacturing and future test activity

Develop and own mechanical designs and mitigation concepts related to thermal runaway containment

Work closely with stress, manufacturing, quality and test teams to deliver compliant, certifiable designs

Support the definition of verification and qualification strategies, balancing test coverage with certification requirements

Contribute to the qualification of novel materials and processes for battery safety applications

Own at least one thermal runaway–related commodity through design, test and Critical Design Review Produce high-quality CAD, drawings and PLM data using Dassault 3DX / CATIASupport key Energy Storage milestones including Battery CDR (Q3 2026)

What You’ll Bring Mechanical design experience within complex electro-mechanical systems (battery systems highly desirable)
Understanding of thermal runaway prevention, mitigation and/or containment methods (a strong differentiator, not a prerequisite)

Experience with thermal runaway testing and/or simulation at cell, module or pack level is highly desirable

Strong understanding of structural, thermal, electrical and manufacturing considerations for HV battery packs, ideally with cylindrical cells

Knowledge of regulated engineering environments; aerospace qualification and certification experience is advantageous

Strong CAD and PLM capability, ideally using Dassault 3DX and CATIAExperience working in fast-paced engineering teams with evolving processes

Familiarity with DFMEA, GD&T and engineering best practice (ISO GPS / BS8888)
Degree in Mechanical, Aerospace or a related engineering discipline

Desirable:

Experience contributing to qualification or certification test programmes

Exposure to novel materials or high-rate automated manufacturing processes

Experience in aerospace, automotive, motor sport, defence or energy storage

Working towards Chartered Engineer (CEng) status#LI-AH1

What can you expect from us?

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