Mechanical Product Design Engineer

Location: Stone, Staffordshire
Working Pattern: Full-time
Sector: Engineering & Manufacturing

About the Role

Are you an experienced Mechanical Design Engineer who enjoys getting hands-on with complex machinery, solving technical challenges and improving product performance?

Appointments Personnel is recruiting a Mechanical Product Design Engineer to join an established engineering team based in Stone, Staffordshire. This is an opportunity to take ownership of mechanical design and development projects, working across new product development and existing equipment to improve reliability, performance and manufacturability.

The successful candidate will combine strong mechanical design expertise with practical engineering knowledge, taking products from initial concept through to detailed design, prototyping, testing and production release. Alongside design work using SolidWorks, the role will involve investigating mechanical failures, identifying root causes and implementing effective engineering solutions.

Working closely with electrical, firmware, manufacturing, quality and service teams, you will play a key role in maintaining and improving complex electromechanical products.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical design and development activities, taking products from initial concept through to detailed design, prototyping, verification and production release.

• Create and maintain 3D models, assemblies, engineering drawings, bills of materials and technical documentation using SolidWorks.

• Investigate mechanical failures and production or service issues, using inspection, measurement, calculations and testing to identify root causes.

• Design, assess and improve rotating and reciprocating machinery, including motors, shafts, bearings, pulleys, belts and power transmission systems.

• Analyse vibration, alignment, wear, fatigue and dynamic behaviour to improve equipment reliability and performance.

• Develop and improve mechanical mechanisms, ensuring designs are robust, practical and suitable for manufacture and assembly.

• Support the development and improvement of equipment involving cryogenic systems, hydraulic components and high-force mechanisms, where applicable.

• Plan and undertake prototype testing, verification activities and engineering trials to validate designs and confirm performance.

• Apply design for manufacture and assembly principles, tolerance analysis and appropriate material selection to improve product quality, serviceability and cost-effectiveness.

• Maintain accurate engineering records, calculations, specifications and controlled design change documentation.

• Work collaboratively with manufacturing, quality, service, supply chain and other engineering specialists to resolve technical challenges.

• Support legacy product improvements, component replacements and the qualification of alternative parts or manufacturing processes.

• Provide technical guidance to less-experienced engineers and technicians, sharing knowledge and supporting good engineering practice.

About You

The ideal candidate will be a hands-on mechanical engineer with substantial experience working with complex machinery or electromechanical equipment. You will be confident taking ownership of technical problems, investigating failures and developing practical, evidence-based solutions.

You will also have:

• A degree, HNC, HND, apprenticeship or equivalent professional experience in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics or a related discipline.

• Strong practical mechanical engineering knowledge, particularly relating to rotating and reciprocating machinery.

• Experience diagnosing mechanical faults and conducting structured root-cause investigations.

• A good understanding of induction motors, variable frequency drives (VFDs), bearings, shafts, couplings, belts, pulleys and mechanical power transmission.

• Experience working with vibration, resonance, imbalance, alignment, wear and fatigue-related issues.

• Strong working proficiency in SolidWorks, including 3D modelling, assembly design and production engineering drawings.

• Knowledge of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), tolerance analysis and design for manufacture and assembly.

• A practical approach to engineering, with experience stripping, inspecting, measuring, assembling, modifying and testing machinery.

• The ability to interpret technical information, carry out engineering calculations and document findings clearly.

• Strong problem-solving and communication skills, with the ability to work independently and collaboratively across different engineering disciplines.

Experience with laboratory equipment, cryogenic or liquid nitrogen systems, hydraulic machinery, finite element analysis (FEA), or legacy product engineering would be advantageous.

What's on Offer

• The opportunity to take technical ownership of complex mechanical and electromechanical products.

• Involvement in both new product development and the continuous improvement of established equipment.

• A varied, hands-on engineering role combining CAD design, practical troubleshooting and product testing.

• The opportunity to work collaboratively with specialists across mechanical, electrical, firmware and manufacturing engineering.

• The chance to influence product reliability, performance, quality and ongoing engineering improvements.

If you are a technically minded Mechanical Design Engineer who enjoys understanding how machinery works, solving challenging engineering problems and seeing designs through to practical application, we would love to hear from you.

Appointments Personnel is acting as an employment business in relation to this vacancy.