Lead Mechanical Design Engineer

Mechanical Design Team Lead – Air Vehicle Design

About the Company
Our client is a UK-based defence technology company producing uncrewed air systems. With over 15 years of experience and strong financial backing/investment, the company is scaling rapidly, delivering cutting-edge UAV solutions for defence and government clients.
With fully integrated UK-based facilities for design, manufacturing, and flight testing, the team can rapidly prototype, iterate, and deploy platforms in response to emerging operational needs.

Role Overview
We’re looking for an experienced and proactive Mechanical Design Team Lead to guide a multidisciplinary team in the design and development of next-generation air vehicles. This role combines technical leadership with hands-on engineering across the entire product lifecycle - from concept to flight.

Key Responsibilities

Lead and mentor a team of engineers, driving performance and development
Oversee the mechanical design of air vehicles, payloads, and production-ready platforms
Ensure efficient resource allocation and milestone delivery in collaboration with senior leaders
Participate in design reviews and maintain configuration and documentation standards
Support manufacturing and supply chain teams with technical input
Plan and execute test and validation activities, including flight tests
Contribute to continuous improvement across engineering processes and team capability
Support recruitment, onboarding, and team resourcing
What We're Looking For
We value people who are collaborative, technically sharp, and adaptive. Ideal candidates will have:

Strong communication and leadership skills
Proficiency in CAD (e.g. SolidWorks)
Experience with design for manufacture and configuration management
A hands-on, problem-solving mindset
Background in aerospace systems, composites, or avionics (desirable)
Eligibility for UK Security Clearance (SC)Working Model
Hybrid working is supported, with most team members on-site at least three days per week. Due to the nature of the work, UK residency and SC clearance eligibility are essential