Structural Design Engineer

Role: Aerospace Structural Design Engineer

Location: Broughton, UK

Type: Permanent/ Full-Time

Job Description

Provide comprehensive engineering support within an aircraft wing design organization, contributing to structural design, development, in-service support, and continuous improvement activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide engineering support for day-to-day in-service repair and technical issues, ensuring compliance with applicable design organization, airworthiness, quality, and export-control requirements.
• Manage aircraft modification activities through defined engineering decision gates, including Preliminary Design Reviews (PDR) and Critical Design Reviews (CDR).
• Collaborate closely with global and offshore engineering teams, ensuring clear technical communication, timely guidance, and effective delivery of engineering outputs.
• Lead and support the structural design and development of primary aircraft wing structures in accordance with applicable processes, methods, standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Apply sound aerospace design principles while considering airworthiness constraints, structural integrity, producibility, maintainability, and manufacturing requirements.
• Review and validate engineering deliverables, including 3D models, 2D drawings, and Bills of Material (BOM), ensuring compliance with technical and project requirements.
• Provide technical expertise in structural design, materials, stress-sizing considerations, manufacturing requirements, and certification constraints.
• Support broader engineering initiatives such as process optimization, design improvements, cost reduction, and productivity enhancement.
• Drive technical issue resolution by coordinating with cross-functional teams including stress, manufacturing, quality, configuration management, and other engineering disciplines.
• Ensure compliance with Digital Mock-Up (DMU), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), configuration control, and engineering data-management processes.
• Prepare and conduct engineering design reviews, including maturity reviews, PDR, CDR, and Design for Manufacturing (DFM) reviews.
• Manage engineering data, technical documentation, and project deliverables in accordance with applicable quality and configuration requirements.
• Support digital continuity initiatives and contribute to the continuous improvement of engineering, design, and technical communication processes.

Required Skillset

• Strong understanding of aerospace structural design principles and airworthiness requirements.
• Good knowledge of metallic and composite structural design principles.
• Working knowledge of aerospace engineering processes, procedures, and design standards.
• Experience with engineering documentation, technical data management, and configuration-controlled environments.
• Experience in design checking and/or approval activities within an aerospace engineering environment.
• Experience with structural design reviews, DMU reviews, interface management, and multi-partner engineering environments.
• Understanding of aircraft modification, non-conformance, technical query, and engineering change processes.
• Strong problem-solving, technical communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to work effectively in cross-functional and geographically distributed engineering teams.

Engineering Tools

Experience with industry-standard aerospace engineering and lifecycle-management tools, including:

• CATIA V5 or equivalent 3D CAD platforms
• SAP or equivalent ERP systems
• PLM and configuration-management systems
• Digital Mock-Up (DMU) and aircraft visualization tools
• Engineering data, documentation, and technical publication systems
• Structural design and analysis support tools

Required Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience in aerospace structural design and development.
• Proven experience working on commercial, military, or other complex aircraft programs.
• Experience with primary aircraft structures, preferably wing structures.
• Experience working within regulated aerospace design and certification environments.
• Ability to interpret engineering requirements and translate them into robust, manufacturable structural designs.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to coordinate effectively across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and other technical functions.