Principal Mechanical Design Engineer

Job Title:

Principal Mechanical Design Engineer

Location:

Barrow-in-Furness. We offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements – please  speak  to your recruiter about the options for this role

Salary:  Circa £55,000

What you’ll be doing :

Lead  the end-to-end development of  complex  fluid systems, shaping designs that meet demanding performance and environmental requirements

Create and review high-value engineering deliverables – for schematics and P&IDs to calculations, system descriptions, and 3D models

Drive advanced system  analyses , including flow, pressure, thermal, and transient modelling to validate performance under  challenging  conditions

Select and assess critical equipment (pumps, compressors, valves, heat exchangers, filters, tanks), ensuring it meet tough submarine operating environments

Champion  technology integrity by reviewing supplier documentation, ensuring full compliance with shock, vibration, atmosphere, temperature, maintainability, and access constraints

Influence design quality and safety, contributing to reviews, hazard studies, verification activities, and resolution of technical issues, modifications, and non-conformances

Your skills and experiences:

Essential:

Educated to degree level, with Chartered Engineer status highly desirable

Solid background in mechanical, marine, process, or fluid systems engineering gained with a  complex  or highly regulated environment

Strong  knowledge of fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, pressure-drop behaviour, transient  analysis , and system performance modelling

Demonstrated technical  expertise  in the design,  analysis , and integration of both compressible and in compressible fluid systems

Desirable:

Experience using industry-standard modelling and  analysis  tools such as FloMASTER, Fluid Flow, MATLAB, CFD packages, ANSYS, or similar

Benefits:

As well as a  competitive  pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Mechanical Engineering Discipline team:

This is an exciting opportunity to join the SSN AUKUS Platform Mechanical Integrated Delivery Team as a Principal Mechanical Design Engineer, where you’ll serve as a technical specialist for some of the submarine’s most critical compressible and in compressible fluid systems. In this role, you’ll take  ownership  of high-integrity mechanical designs that  must  perform flawlessly within one of the most demanding engineering environments in the world.

You’ll shape  complex  system solutions, influence platform-level  decisions , and ensure designs meet the rigorous performance, safety, and environmental requirements unique to submarine engineering. This a chance to work at the forefront of next-generation naval capability, tackling  challenging  technical problems and contributing directly to one of the UK’s most advanced defence programmes. We offer relocation support across all Submarine roles, subject to meeting eligibility criteria

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder  etc .)

that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please  speak  to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export  control  restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict  the roles  you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All  applicants   must  as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard.

Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where  applicants   must  typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for  the role , to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date:  30th January 2026

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for  the role . Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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