Principal Engineer - Testing

Principal Engineer – Testing Bedfordshire Permanent | Onsite | 37 hours a week: 08:00-16:00 (some flexibility) Up to £70,000 (DOE) + bonus

A globally renowned and recognised automotive testing and engineering organisation is searching for a Principal Engineer to lead operations within their specialist Passive Safety division. Based at their expansive proving ground in Bedfordshire, you will manage the performance and growth of a highly advanced servo‑sled facility used by major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.

This is an exciting opportunity to influence strategy, lead a skilled team, and play a key role in future capability development. You will be joining a business with a strong reputation for employee wellbeing, offering generous holiday entitlements, healthcare cashback plans, contributory pension schemes, life cover, enhanced family‑friendly policies, access to a wide range of discounts via their employee rewards platform, and regular recognition for innovation, integrity and expertise!

• Ensure full Health & Safety compliance, including risk assessments and safety observation tours
• Manage and develop a small team of engineers and technicians
• Oversee work scheduling, operational planning, and resource allocation
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives using established tools and processes
• Manage financial processes: invoicing, PO approvals, and forecasting
• Support maintenance of ISO
  17025, ISO
  9001 and other relevant accreditations
• Create and manage training and development plans for team members
• Oversee sled equipment utilisation, troubleshooting, and performance analysis
• Maintain and enhance sled testing procedures and documentation

• Engineering degree (automotive preferred)
• 5+ years’ passive safety testing to global standards
• Proven experience managing a small engineering team
• Hands‑on sled testing expertise and exposure to Systems/Static Rig testing
• Experience with CMM tools (e.g., FARO Arm)
• High‑speed / GoPro / DSLR camera setup experience
• Strong data acquisition, processing and analysis capability
• Solid understanding of global passive safety regulations, injury criteria and ATD instrumentation