Principal Engineer – Automotive Damageability

Job in Thatcham, Berkshire, RG18, England, UK

Listing for: Women in Data®

Full Time position
Listed on 2026-08-25

Job specializations:

Engineering
Quality Engineering, Safety Engineer

Salary/Wage Range or Industry Benchmark: 85000 - 110000 GBP Yearly GBP 85000.00 110000.00 YEAR

Thatcham Research is looking for a Principal Engineer – Automotive Damageability to serve as our technical authority in vehicle damage performance risk and insurance-related vehicle assessment. In this strategic role,
you’ll lead the development of methodologies that help us understand and quantify how vehicles perform in real-world low speed damage events
, and what this means for vehicle insurability and customer outcomes. Through innovative research, you'll identify the risk affecting factors that influence damage frequency and severity
, translating complex technical evidence into industry guidance and helping vehicle manufacturers and motor insurers make informed decisions that improve vehicle design, and total cost of ownership.

As the Principal Engineer – Automotive Damageability, you'll:

Lead Thatcham Research’s approach to understanding, assessing and quantifying vehicle damage risk.
Define the metrics and assessment frameworks needed to evaluate vehicle damage performance consistently.
Translate vehicle damage-risk insights into insurance implications, including damage likelihood and extent.
Act as Thatcham Research’s external technical authority in this field, representing the organisation with insurers, manufacturers, suppliers, industry bodies, working groups and standards organisations.
Collaborate with specialists across safety, security, repair, data, operations, product and marketing.
Support the development of scalable damageability assessment methods, risk insights, analytical models and industry services.

Skills & experience that will set you up for success in this role:

Significant experience in vehicle engineering, crash performance, body structure engineering, insurance engineering or vehicle damage assessment.
Strong knowledge of vehicle structures, materials, mechanical and electromechanical systems, including emerging technologies and vehicle architectures.
Proven ability to lead technically complex research projects and establish robust, evidence-based approaches.
Ability to communicate complex engineering findings clearly to technical, insurance and non-technical audiences.

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