Senior Principle Design Standards Engineer

Job Specification:
Senior Principal Design Standards Engineer

The Senior Principal Design Standards Engineer is a senior technical and leadership role within the engineering team, responsible for defining, maintaining, and improving design standards across mechanical and multidisciplinary projects. This role ensures that all designs—from concept through construction and operation—meet regulatory British standard requirements, additional industry standards, and best engineering practices, while supporting sustainable, low‑carbon, and energy‑efficient solutions.

A key focus of this role is mentoring, upskilling, and training engineering staff, particularly in structural design standards and best practices, ensuring the team develops the capability to deliver high‑quality, compliant, and innovative designs. The role combines technical authority with leadership, driving design excellence, standardisation, and professional growth within the engineering function.

• Lead the development, implementation, and enforcement of design standards, technical guidelines, and best practices across mechanical and structural engineering projects.
• Provide senior technical leadership from concept design through construction and operational handover, ensuring all outputs meet quality, regulatory, and safety requirements.
• Conduct feasibility studies, conceptual design appraisals, and structural/stress analysis to validate engineering solutions.
• Oversee technical deliverables, ensuring compliance with APQP processes (Requirements, Process Flow, DFMEA, Design for Manufacture, Control Plans) and internal quality frameworks.
• Drive standardisation, modularisation, and repeatable design solutions to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance manufacturability.
• Continuously update and integrate manufacturing capabilities, tolerances, and process improvements into the design workflow.
• Research emerging engineering practices, technologies, and materials to identify opportunities for design optimisation and innovation.
• Upskill and mentor engineering staff, providing structured training in structural design standards, compliance, and best practices.
• Lead workshops, technical training sessions, and review forums to build team capability, improve design quality, and embed a culture of engineering excellence.
• Act as a subject‑matter expert in design reviews, audits, and project risk assessments, providing clear, evidence‑based recommendations.
• Ensure all designs are sustainable, energy‑efficient, and aligned with organisational objectives for low‑carbon engineering solutions.

• Review, validate, and approve mechanical and structural design deliverables, including technical drawings, CAD models, and Bills of Materials (BOMs).
• Lead cross‑functional technical workshops and design review sessions to align project teams on standards, compliance, and design intent.
• Maintain documentation of design standards, revisions, and lessons learned for continuous process improvement.
• Collaborate with manufacturing, quality, and procurement teams to ensure designs are fully feasible, cost‑effective, and manufacturable.
• Ensure that all design processes meet internal quality gates and applicable external standards, including ISO, ASME, BIM, ATEX & BS1090 and local regulatory requirements.
• Provide technical input for APQP processes, including DFMEA, control plans, and process capability analyses.
• Deliver structured training and development programmes for engineers on structural design, standards compliance, and best practices.
• Standardised, verified, and compliant mechanical and structural designs ready for production or construction.
• Comprehensive documentation of design decisions, analysis results, and standardisation efforts.
• Reports summarising compliance with design standards, quality gates and regulatory requirements.
• Recommendations for continuous improvement in design methodology, tools and standards.
• Development and training plans for engineering staff, with measurable improvements in skills and technical competence.
• Logs and records of lessons learned and technical guidance shared across the team.