Lead Design Engineer

Lead Design Engineer

£45,000 – £55,000 | Dudley, West Midlands

You've spent years designing machinery, solving complex engineering problems and seeing your designs come to life on the workshop floor.

You understand that being a good Design Engineer isn't just about producing an accurate 3D model.

It's about understanding how machinery works, how components interact, how something will be manufactured, assembled, installed and ultimately perform in the real world.

And that's exactly the experience we're looking for.

As Lead Design Engineer, you'll take technical ownership of mechanical design across a business specialising in industrial equipment, bespoke machinery and complete turnkey engineering systems.

This isn't a role where you'll spend every day making minor modifications to existing drawings.

One day you could be developing the mechanical design for a completely bespoke piece of machinery, the next working on an automated system, integrating mechanical and electrical components or improving an existing product to make it more efficient to manufacture.

You'll be involved from the very beginning.

Understanding customer requirements, developing concepts, producing detailed 3D models and manufacturing drawings, selecting components and materials, and supporting the engineering process right through to build, testing and commissioning.

Your background will be in special-purpose machinery, industrial automation, bespoke equipment or complex mechanical systems.

You'll have substantial hands-on mechanical design experience and be confident taking a project from initial concept through to a fully manufactured, working piece of equipment.

You'll understand:

* 3D CAD modelling and detailed manufacturing drawings, ideally using Autodesk Fusion or a comparable package.

* Mechanical and electro-mechanical assemblies, including how motors, sensors, actuators and other components integrate.

* Manufacturing processes, including fabrication, machining, sheet metal and assembly.

* Materials, tolerances, component selection and engineering calculations.

* Designing machinery that is practical to manufacture, maintain and operate safely.

* Bills of Materials, design changes and engineering documentation.

You'll also understand the importance of machinery safety, design reviews and making sure the engineering works beyond the CAD screen.

You'll work closely with Projects, Engineering, Electrical, Automation, Manufacturing and Operations, becoming the person they rely on when a technical design challenge needs resolving.

And because this is a Lead Design Engineer position, you'll have the opportunity to take ownership of how the design function operates.

Improving drawing standards, introducing better design processes, reviewing external design work and helping ensure engineering projects are delivered consistently.

But this is still very much a hands-on design role.

There aren't any direct reports initially, and we're not looking for someone who wants to step away from engineering into purely managing people.

We're looking for someone who enjoys the technical detail, can make confident engineering decisions and has the experience to lead complex design work independently.

You might already be a Lead Design Engineer, or an experienced Senior Mechanical Design Engineer who's been taking technical ownership of projects and is ready for a bigger opportunity.

Previous experience in thermal spray equipment isn't essential. What matters is that you've designed complex industrial machinery or engineered systems and understand the full process of bringing those designs to life.

You'll be rewarded with a salary of £45,000 – £55,000, depending on experience, alongside a company pension, annual leave plus bank holidays and flexible or…