Tool Design Engineer

Our Client is a long-established industrial manufacturing business specialising in precision metal fastening components. It operates within a larger, privately owned European industrial group and serves as a key specialist entity within that structure. Our Client’s products are supplied to a wide variety of industrial and engineering sectors, including transport, energy, heavy machinery, and general manufacturing.

This role presents a significant opportunity for an experienced technical Design Engineer who has a robust toolmaking background, extensive customer liaison experience and the ability to hold technical conversations on product functions and applications.

Reporting to the Lean Engineering Manufacturing Manager, the post holder will hold responsibility for the design and approval of bespoke tooling from customer drawings through to production release and is heavily involved throughout the New Product Enquiry (NPE) process. The role is responsible for interpreting and, where necessary, challenging customer specifications, tolerances, and application requirements, acting as the primary technical interface with customers.

The position has authority over tooling concepts, materials, tolerances, wear strategy, and tooling readiness for new products, and is accountable for resolving tooling and product performance issues through corrective design action. The role works closely with toolroom, production, quality, and commercial teams to ensure robust, manufacturable, and commercially viable tooling solutions are delivered through the NPE lifecycle.

The Senior / Principal Tooling Design Engineer provides technical authority for bespoke tooling design and application suitability, ensuring tools derived from customer drawings perform correctly in their intended operating conditions. The role exists to combine tooling design expertise with deep product and application knowledge, safeguarding product performance, tooling integrity, and continuity of critical engineering capability within the business.

Typical tasks would include interpreting customer drawings and specifications and discussing requirements with customers to ensure the correct product and tooling solution is specified for the application.

This includes selecting appropriate materials, defining tolerances, and applying shaped wire and rod-to-wire calculations to validate designs.

The role involves designing bespoke tooling, producing and updating detailed engineering drawings, and refining designs based on performance feedback.

Ongoing collaboration with the Toolroom Manager is required to incorporate practical feedback into tooling improvements, while maintaining accurate design records and capturing design rules and calculation methods to support consistent, high-quality tooling and product design.

The role requires a senior-level tooling design engineer with proven experience designing bespoke press tooling directly from customer drawings, supported by strong practical knowledge of strip layout, cutting clearances, tolerancing, materials, heat treatment, and wear behaviour.

The individual must have experience supporting tooling through build, try-out, commissioning, and production, working closely with toolroom and production teams to resolve performance issues and implement design improvements.

Strong application awareness and confidence engaging directly with customers during the New Product Enquiry process, including feasibility and cost support, is essential, as is the ability to challenge specifications where required.

Proficiency in 2D and 3D CAD and disciplined control of drawings and revisions is required.

Must be able to use CAD software such as Inventor and Vault – CAD skills are essential.

The successful candidates must have proven years of experience working within a design role in an engineering business.

Exceptional communication skills with the ability to hold technical conversations with customers. A strong practical and hands‑on toolmaking background is required.

The successful candidate will be a quick learner capable of understanding customer drawings and requirements to convert these requirements into a production tool design.

Desirable: HNC/HND in Mechanical Engineering.

Desirable: FEM (Finite Element Method) Software (or similar) capability.

Candidates must have the current RTW in the UK without sponsorship.