Location: FAAM Airborne Laboratory, Cranfield
Salary: £42,149 to £50,296 p.a.
Contract length: Fixed Term (to 31 March 2026 – due to external funding)
Contract type: Full time
Closing date: Monday 14 March 2022

Are you highly motivated with a background in mechanical design and engineering? Do you have experience of working on complex engineering projects? Would you like to develop scientific systems as part of the transformative FAAM Airborne Laboratory Mid-Life Upgrade project?

The FAAM Airborne Laboratory is a world-class research facility dedicated to the advancement of atmospheric science. FAAM operates a specially adapted BAe-146 4-engine research aircraft managed by a unique team of scientists, engineers, flight technicians and project managers providing a complete package of support for the scientific community. The capabilities are extensively reliant on state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation, often uniquely customised for use on the aircraft, which is deployed throughout the world.

FAAM’s measurement and operational capabilities are continually evolving, and management of this modification process has to be carried out effectively, against both time and budget constraints. The exciting Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) project aims to deliver a range of upgrades and enhancements to the scientific capabilities of the aircraft, its measurement capabilities and its research impact, extending its useful life by at least 20 years.

The MLU is an ambitious 4-5 year £50m project to rebuild significant parts of the aircraft systems, and carry out a comprehensive upgrading of the aircraft’s scientific and operational capabilities. Successful delivery will require working closely with major stakeholders, including BAe Systems as aircraft Design Authority, engineering suppliers and the aircraft’s scientific user community. The entire project will comprise several hundreds of individual aircraft modifications, each of which will need to be properly developed and embodied on the aircraft.

As a Mechanical Design Engineer you will be responsible for leading design engineering at FAAM, carrying out duties such as design, prototyping, working with engineering documentation and undertaking supporting calculations. You will also develop FAAM’s design and workshop facilities and establish a working relationship between FAAM and specialist design and manufacturing facilities.

Good innovative thinking is required along with the ability to work with scientists and engineers including the aircraft’s Design Authority and other stakeholders. The aim is to produce high quality, reliable and innovative atmospheric science instruments and systems for the FAAM aircraft.

This is a new post and will be ideal for a motivated person who is able to work across disciplines and keen to make a valuable contribution to the development of an internationally significant project.

The post will be employed by the University of Leeds and will be based within the FAAM team on the campus at Cranfield University.

Find out more and make your application.

Stephen Devereau, Mid Life Upgrade Director, FAAM Airborne Laboratory

Email: steve.devereau@faam.ac.uk, telephone +44 (0) 7500 973201