Mechanical Engineering Manager

L3Harris is dedicated to recruiting and developing high‑performing talent who are passionate about what they do. Our employees are unified in a shared dedication to our customers’ mission and quest for professional growth. L3Harris provides an inclusive, engaging environment designed to empower employees and promote work‑life success. Fundamental to our culture is an unwavering focus on values, dedication to our communities, and commitment to excellence in everything we do.

L3Harris Technologies is the Trusted Disruptor in the defense industry. With customers’ mission‑critical needs always in mind, our employees deliver end‑to‑end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security.

From 11 UK sites, our team of nearly 1,000 people delivers unique capabilities across space, air, land, sea and cyber for military, security and commercial customers across the UK and worldwide.

L3Harris in Brighton are part of Release Systems and the Mission Avionics sector operating in the Aerospace domain. Our mission‑critical release systems equipment is on most major airborne fighter platforms worldwide, including the F‑35, along with other aircraft like the Gripen and Typhoon. Brighton designs, manufactures and tests a large portion of its release systems portfolio. This facility offers 48,500 square feet of manufacturing space for the development of high‑performance, multi‑station solutions used to launch air‑to‑air and air‑to‑ground munitions from bay, wing or fuselage stations.

In this role, you will lead a functional team of Design Technicians, Design and Mechanical engineers in support of a variety of suspension and release products. You will direct and review the work of direct report(s) to accomplish near‑term operational plans and results.

In addition to functional responsibilities, you will be expected to support programmes and perform Design and Mechanical engineering development activities. These activities could range from leading a development team to supporting programme activities as an independent reviewer to providing individual contributor support when needed. Individual contributor responsibilities could include design of major components or major portions of a functional system to develop or improve products and facilitate manufacturing operations, and utilising CAD equipment to develop basic data and make preliminary layouts, sketches and notes necessary to present design proposals.

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• Half day finish on a Friday
  
• 25 days holiday per year (plus bank holidays), increasing with long service and with the opportunity to buy/sell up to 5 days
  
• Private medical insurance with optional family cover
  
• Pension scheme of up to 8% employer contribution
  
• Life Assurance 4x salary (flexible up to 10x)
  
• Group income protection
  
• Flexible opt‑in extras such as a health care cash plan, dental insurance, gym membership, critical illness cover and cycle to work scheme
  
• Employee Family Assistance Program providing mental health and wellbeing support
  
• Professional membership reimbursement (discretionary)
  

The responsibilities of your role will include the following:

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• Lead a functional department of circa 10 people, providing technical oversight, managing assignments and workload.
  
• Engaging with local business and functional leadership to ensure alignment of functional development and capabilities with business forecast.
  
• Work with the wider functional organisation to deploy organisational processes and best practices.
  
• Identify and execute small improvement projects with the team such as process improvements, creating “how to” documents, and creating job specific training materials.
  
• Act as an individual contributor executing programmes (project lead, SME, team member) and/or proposals (proposal manager, proposal contributor).
  
• Responsible for the design, layout, testing and evaluation of mechanical and electro‑mechanical devices or systems.
  
• Prepares design specifications, analysis and recommendations for presentation and approval.
  
• Analyses mechanical requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
  
• Perform product development activities including interpretation/implementation of customer specifications and documentation requirements.
  
• Perform significant CAD modeling of parts & assemblies.
  
• Manage CAD models and associated data using PDM.
  
• Review and approve mechanical design drawings and documentation.
  
• Assist with schedule, cost, and advise team and programmes on pertinent design factors such as ease of manufacture, availability of materials and equipment, interchangeability, replaceability, strength‑weight efficiency, contractual specification requirements at the major subsystem level.
  
• Complete cost estimation for proposals.
  
• Interface with customers & Senior management.
  

The role requires the following experience and skills:

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• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field and minimum of 10 years of prior relevant experience.
  
• Experience in mechanical design, requirements analysis, specification generation, interface definition, component selection, component 3D CAD modeling, data management, and product documentation.
  
• Knowledgeable in BS8888 drawing standards and best practices.
  
• Working knowledge of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing, ISO 1101.
  
• Experience in design for, and testing to military environments (i.e. temperature, vibration, shock, etc.).
  
• Experience in 3D CAD modeling.
  
• Experience managing engineering teams or projects.
  
• Experience in working in a PDM system.
  
• Strong Solidworks CAD Modeling skills – preferable.
  

Due to the nature of our work many of our roles require a UK nationality and the ability to obtain a security clearance. Applicants who accept a conditional offer of employment must meet the requirement of right to work in the UK and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information and will be subject to government security checks.

L3Harris Technologies is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to maintaining a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination and offers equal opportunities for all. Applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and marriage and civil partnerships.