Principal Thermal Mechanical Engineer

BPSS + SC in Flight Security Restrictions Subject to ITAR and UK eyes only 2 - 3 days per week The Principal Thermal Mechanical Engineer is a key role that leads the mechanical engineering aspects of the development of…

Pay rate £70/hour
Contract type Contract
Posted 6 October 2026

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About this contract

BPSS + SC in Flight
Security Restrictions
Subject to ITAR and UK eyes only
2 - 3 days per week

The Principal Thermal Mechanical Engineer is a key role that leads the mechanical engineering aspects of the development of new radar technologies. Reporting to the Project Engineering Manager, this role must have an expert thermal mechanical knowledge with experience in the general design, build, integration and test of complex mechanical systems.

The holder will themselves be a subject matter expert the area of Thermal Mechanical Systems, with experience in other mechanical areas for example, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Finite Element Analysis, Propulsion or Structures. They may also hold Mechanical Design Authority for the Future Radar Products.

Experience and knowledge of the design and implementation of thermal management systems including heat exchangers is highly desirable
Experience and knowledge of the design, build, test and use of composite structural materials is essential.
Familiarity with the use of relevant modelling and simulation tools for analysis of structure behaviours under static and dynamic load, shock and vibration is essential
Familiarity with the content, applicability and use of relevant Standards is highly desirable
Experience and knowledge of engineering lifecycles from requirements capture and derivation to in-service support is highly desirable.
Have CEng status, working towards this or relevant experience

This role also matrix reports into the Mechanical Engineering Discipline Lead for Defence Solutions. As a Senior role within the Radar Mechanical Engineering discipline, the holder will be responsible for working with the discipline lead and Radar Mechanical Engineering Manager to provide technical guidance to the wider Mechanical Engineering group.

Requires an understanding of concepts and principals relating to an area within the Mechanical Engineering discipline. Has experience and able to apply knowledge to a wide range of engineering issues within the Mechanical Engineering discipline.

Helps with planning and supervising the work of the mechanical engineering team within the Future Radar portfolio
Directs technical work assignments and reviews of work in progress.
Reviews technical feasibility of proposed solutions to engineering problems.
Personally, helps solve particularly complex technical problems.

Safety:
The role holder is responsible for taking reasonable care of their own health and safety, ensuring high standards for safety, health and environment (SHE) in our organisation are maintained, understood, implemented and followed by their team. This includes; co-operating and following all reasonable instruction, information and training; reporting work-related hazards or incidents, using all equipment for the purpose intended, setting high standards for SHE, leading by example and establishing the expectation that others do the same; promoting risk awareness, ensuring that risks are assessed and adequately controlled, encouraging the team to report incidents and defects and make suggestions to improve SHE standards; and ensuring actions to address SHE issues are prioritised and resourced appropriately. More detailed responsibilities are captured within the Company Health & Safety Policy (759/OF/016) and the Company Environmental Policy (759/OF/029).

Requires an understanding of how own activities integrate within those of own team and how activities of own team interrelate and interact with other teams within the business

Understands competitor activity and engineering
Understands how to apply engineering to differentiate the business and its products
Understands how the engineering discipline integrates into other technologies and products
Understands in detail the technical specification aligned to own functional area of activity and requires an understanding of the external environment including standards

Skills:
Explains difficult technical subject matter to non-specialists and other engineers
Works with engineering managers to ensure they fully understand technical applications and opportunities for exploitation of engineering
Applies influence and assistance to engineering leaders to select appropriate technologies and technical applications
Requires strong communication, diplomacy and interpersonal skills
Reviews technical specifications, determines engineering processes and standards relevant to the discipline and resolves complex engineering product and service problems and issues

Develops innovative and creative solutions to challenging engineering problems and issues based on analysis of multiple sources of information
Uses advanced tools, techniques and knowledge to analyse information and is required to make judgements with traceability and accountability based on own knowledge and experience of similar situations

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