Aerostructure Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

ALTEN is looking for an experienced Mechanical Design Engineer to join our engineering team, supporting advanced aerospace programmes.

This role is ideal for an engineer with a strong structural engineering background who can work across design, manufacturing, analysis, testing and certification. You will play a key role in ensuring structural solutions meet performance, weight, safety and manufacturability requirements throughout the development lifecycle.

• Location: Bristol
• On Site: Hybrid
• Clearance: Clearable
• Experience Level: Senior

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with Design, Manufacturing, Stress and Certification teams to develop and mature structural solutions.
• Assess structural concepts and recommend improvements to achieve the right balance between strength, weight, manufacturability and cost.
• Review engineering drawings, technical documentation and proposed design changes to ensure structural integrity and feasibility.
• Provide technical input and engineering judgement during design reviews and modification activities.
• Support the development of structural test plans, including preparation, execution and evaluation of test activities.
• Compare analytical predictions against physical test results and investigate any discrepancies.
• Support analysis-to-test correlation, helping ensure engineering models accurately represent structural behaviour.
• Contribute to certification activities by providing the required structural engineering evidence and technical justification.
• Provide technical approval and engineering sign-off for structural designs and modifications within the appropriate level of authority.
• Work closely with cross-functional engineering stakeholders to resolve structural issues and support continuous design improvement.

Required Skills:

• Strong experience within structural engineering, stress analysis or aerospace design.
• Good understanding of structural design principles, load paths and structural integrity.
• Experience reviewing engineering drawings and design changes from a structural perspective.
• Understanding of aerospace testing, validation and certification processes.
• Experience supporting structural testing and correlating analytical results with physical test data.
• Ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary teams across design, manufacturing, analysis and certification.
• Strong technical communication, problem-solving and engineering decision-making skills.

Required Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, or equivalent military experience.

Desirable Skills:

• Strong background in aerospace structural engineering, ideally within aircraft structures or complex aerospace products.
• Experience in structural design and/or stress engineering.
• Good understanding of static strength, structural integrity, load paths and failure modes.
• Experience reviewing engineering drawings, structural designs and design modifications.
• Ability to assess designs for strength, weight, manufacturability, cost and safety.
• Experience supporting structural testing, including test preparation, execution and results evaluation.
• Knowledge of analysis-to-test correlation and the ability to interpret physical test results against predicted structural behaviour.

Why join us?

We bring together entrepreneurial, tech-driven people to deliver innovative solutions for leading companies.

At ALTEN, you’ll work on exciting projects, supported by ongoing learning, mentoring, and clear career development tailored to your goals.

Join a passionate team and help build tomorrow, today.

In short you get:

• A personalised career path and a rewarding management style
• A huge diversity of engineering projects and industries
• Private Medical Insurance
• Cycle & Tech Scheme
• Employee assistance programme
• Life insurance & Pension Scheme
• Social atmosphere, regular gatherings & team buildings
• Flexible way of working (role dependent)

We are proud to support the Armed Forces Covenant & actively encourage applications from members of the Armed Forces community, including veterans, reservists, service leavers, and military spouses/partners. We recognise the value of military skills and experience and are committed to ensuring that no applicant is unfairly disadvantaged during our recruitment and selection processes.

ALTEN is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and values the strength that comes from a global mix of backgrounds and perspectives. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates, regardless of background or protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.

This role may require you to have or be willing to go through Security Clearance. As part of the onboarding process candidates will be asked to complete a Baseline Personnel Security Standard; details of the evidence required to apply may be found on the government website Gov.UK. If you are unable to meet this and any associated criteria, then your employment may be delayed, or rejected . Details of this will be discussed with you at interview.