Lead Design Engineer

Lead Design Engineer | £45,000 - £60,000 | Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

W Talent are looking for an experienced Lead Design Engineer or Design Team Leader to join a growing industrial engineering and manufacturing business located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The Lead Design Engineer will be responsible for the design and development of bespoke machinery and advanced engineering solutions.

This is a fast-paced hands-on position where you will take ownership of projects from initial concept and customer requirements through to detailed design, manufacture, installation and commissioning. You will also provide technical leadership to the wider design team, helping to develop designs, solve engineering challenges and ensure projects are delivered to a high standard. This is not a management only role, and as lead of a small team, the successful candidate must want to carry out a good level of design work on an ongoing basis.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of bespoke machinery, components and engineering systems.
• Working on scheduling alongside the Head of Projects & Operational Planning, and maintaining internal engineering controls to support, mentor, and drive the design team.
• Take ownership of projects from initial concept through to manufacture, installation and commissioning.
• Produce and review detailed engineering drawings, layouts and design documentation using 3D CAD.
• Working on mechanical design, pneumatics, and rotary systems.
• Develop practical, cost-effective design solutions to meet customer and project requirements.
• Work closely with manufacturing and production teams to ensure designs are suitable for manufacture and assembly.
• Provide technical guidance and support to other Design Engineers within the team.
• Identify and resolve design and engineering issues throughout the project lifecycle.
• Liaise with customers, suppliers and internal teams where required.
• Support installation and commissioning activities, providing engineering input and resolving issues on site and remotely.
• Help improve design processes, standards and ways of working across the engineering function.
• Carry out design work to help improve capacity.

What's Required

Located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire this will require outside of normal working hours evening support via video call one to two times per month, plus some support on weekend installations on average once per month. Hours can be flexible to suit required support. On-site measure up visits in UK, Europe, and ROW areas will be required on average around 8 - 12. Some instances of travel with require overnight stays.

The Ideal Candidate

• Senior Mechanical Design Engineer looking to step into, or already operating at, a Lead Design Engineer/Design Manager.
• Time-served, apprenticeship-trained or degree/HNC/HND qualified in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Strong experience designing bespoke machinery, equipment or complex mechanical systems.
• Proven experience in a fast-paced design and manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience taking engineering projects from concept through to manufacture.
• Strong understanding of mechanical engineering principles and manufacturing processes.
• Experience of integrating electrical/electronic systems into mechanical designs would be advantageous.
• Experience working with carbon fibre or composite materials would be desirable.
• Previous experience of leading, mentoring or supporting other engineers.
• Confident working across multiple projects and managing competing priorities.
• Strong problem-solving skills with a practical, hands-on approach.
• Experience using Autodesk Inventor is essential.

What's on Offer

• Salary of £50,000 - £60,000, depending on experience.
• Opportunity to take a lead role within an established and growing engineering team.
• Varied and technically interesting bespoke engineering projects.
• The opportunity to have genuine input into the design and development of new machinery and solutions.
• A role offering both hands-on design responsibility and technical leadership.
• Standard working hours are 08:00 - 17:00 Monday - Thursday, and 08:00 - 14:30 Friday.
• Hours can flex to support installs and measures.
• Must share in working rota for Friday cover up until 17:00 once monthly

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