Design Engineer

Prime Appointments

Rowhedge, CO5 7HQ, United Kingdom

Last month

Applications closed

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Senior Analog IC Design Engineer

Cambridge GaN Devices Cambridge, United Kingdom

On-site

Materials Engineer (Supply Chain)

Safran Gloucester, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Hybrid

Materials Engineer

Belcan Filton, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

£35 ph

Simulation Engineer - FEA

PhysicsX North Tyneside, NE29 8EP, United Kingdom

Materials Engineer

Hays Engineering Chester, Cheshire, CH65 9HY, United Kingdom

£35,000 – £45,000 pa On-site

Materials Engineer (Metallurgy)

Copello Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, United Kingdom

£70,000 pa On-site

Posted: 29 Mar 2026 (Last month)

Save job

Create job alert

Applications closed

Design Engineer - GRP & Composite Structures (BIM / CAD) Colchester | £34,000 - £40,000 | 25 days holiday + bank holidays

Our client is an established and innovative manufacturer of GRP and composite structural products, designing and supplying solutions for critical civil infrastructure across rail, utilities, water, and marine sectors. With over 110 people at their Essex headquarters, a portfolio of patented products, and a strong focus on sustainable, low-carbon infrastructure, this business has real momentum and an ambitious growth plan.

The Opportunity

We're expanding the design team and need a hands-on Design Engineer with strong BIM and CAD experience to deliver detailed 2D/3D models and drawings for live infrastructure and installation projects. You'll work closely with Project Managers, Production, and Engineering teams in a busy environment, taking ownership from concept through to as-built.

BIM is central to the role; you'll use it daily for coordination across multiple concurrent projects.

Key Responsibilities

Produce detailed 2D/3D models and drawings using Inventor, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, and BIM tools

Ensure designs are compliant, constructable, and technically accurate

Collaborate with internal teams to resolve technical queries

Attend site visits and produce red-line / as-built drawings

Support product development and continuous improvement

Essential Requirements

Strong structural / installation design knowledge with practical BIM experience on live engineering or construction projects (academic-only experience will not be sufficient)

Proficient with CAD tools (Inventor, SolidWorks, AutoCAD)

Ability to manage multiple projects and communicate confidently on-site

Full UK driving licence

Desirable

Experience with GRP or composite structures

Background in civil/structural/installation design

Working towards or holding professional membership (e.g. RIBA or equivalent)

Minimum 3+ years in a design engineering role

What's on Offer

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Company pension

Role-specific training and development

Health screening and wellbeing programmes

If you're a practically minded Design Engineer with solid hands-on BIM/CAD experience and a passion for technical problem-solving in sustainable infrastructure, this is a rare chance to join a growing manufacturer at the forefront of UK composites innovation.

Apply today, only candidates with real BIM project experience will be considered.

#Tier1

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Apr 9, 2026

Products

Where to Advertise Materials Science Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Where to advertise materials science jobs UK in 2026: specialist boards, academic channels and societies that reach physicists, chemists and metallurgists. The candidate pool spans physicists, chemists, metallurgists, ceramicists, polymer scientists and computational materials researchers — a highly multidisciplinary community with distinct professional identities, academic networks and job search behaviours. The strongest candidates are typically embedded in university research groups, national laboratories, government-funded programmes or deep tech R&D teams, and move between roles through specialist academic channels, professional societies and sector-specific networks rather than mainstream job boards. This guide, published by MaterialsScienceJobs.co.uk, covers where to advertise materials science roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about hiring across different role types.

Apr 5, 2026

Jobs

Materials Science Jobs UK 2026: What to Expect Over the Next 3 Years

Materials Science Jobs UK 2026: roles, salaries and the trends shaping UK materials science hiring over the next three years — from batteries to composites. Materials science sits at the foundation of almost every technology transition that matters right now. The batteries powering the electric vehicle revolution, the semiconductors enabling artificial intelligence, the lightweight composites reducing aircraft emissions, the biomaterials replacing damaged human tissue, the thin films making solar cells more efficient — none of these advances are possible without breakthroughs in the science and engineering of materials. And breakthroughs in materials science require people. The UK materials science jobs market has historically been one of the quieter corners of the STEM hiring landscape — important, deeply technical, and consistently in demand, but rarely the subject of the breathless coverage that AI or blockchain attract. That relative obscurity is beginning to change. The convergence of the net zero transition, the semiconductor sovereignty agenda, the advanced manufacturing investment wave, and the growing role of computational and AI-driven materials discovery is elevating materials science to a strategic priority for governments, investors, and employers in a way that is directly reshaping the jobs market. For job seekers, this shift represents a genuine opportunity — but one that rewards those who understand the specific technical, commercial, and policy dynamics driving materials science hiring rather than those who simply arrive with a materials science degree and expect the market to do the rest. The roles being created now are more interdisciplinary, more computationally demanding, and more commercially oriented than the materials science jobs of even three years ago. This article breaks down what the UK materials science jobs market is likely to look like through to 2028 — covering the titles emerging right now, the technologies driving employer demand, the skills that will matter most, and how to position your career at the leading edge of a discipline that has never been more consequential.

Feb 12, 2026

Careers

How Many Materials Science Tools Do You Need to Know to Get a Materials Science Job?

Materials science tools for UK materials jobs in 2026: how many characterisation, simulation (DFT, FEA), microscopy and lab analytics tools you really need on your CV. If you’re navigating the materials science job market, it can feel like the list of tools, techniques and platforms you should learn grows every week. One job advert mentions electron microscopy, another mentions X-ray diffraction, yet another wants experience with thermal analysis, spectroscopy, simulation software, statistical packages, manufacturing QA systems and more. With so many specialised methods and instruments, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed — and to start thinking you need to know everything just to be considered. Here’s the honest truth most materials science hiring managers won’t tell you directly: 👉 They don’t hire you because you know every piece of equipment or software. They hire you because you can use the tools you do know to answer real questions, make reliable measurements and communicate results clearly. Tools are essential — no question — but they are secondary to problem-solving ability, scientific reasoning and experimental rigour. So the real question is: how many materials science tools do you actually need to know to get a job? The precise number depends on the role you want, but for most job seekers the answer is far fewer than you think. This article breaks down what employers really value, which tools are core, which are role-specific, and how to focus your learning so your CV and interviews stand out for the right reasons.