Mechanical Design Engineer

The Company

Filtronic is looking for a Mechanical Design Engineer to join our engineering team to work on a range of exciting RF and microwave products from concept through to volume production.

With experienced engineers, advanced design tools and in-house RF/mmWave manufacturing capability, you will be able to develop your skills and experience designing high-frequency products as part of the Filtronic team.

Our products range from low volume niche opportunity devices to high volume telecommunications, aerospace, defence and space-related applications.

Purpose of Role

To provide end-to-end mechanical engineering support and leadership for advanced high-frequency RF systems, modules and amplifiers, ensuring that mechanical performance, thermal efficiency, reliability, manufacturability, quality and cost requirements are achieved.

The role will involve the design of mechanically robust, lightweight and thermally efficient assemblies for demanding industrial, payload and high-reliability environments, including space-related applications.

Summary of Responsibilities

Mechanical Design and Development

• Design precision mechanical components and assemblies for RF modules and systems, including lightweight structural enclosures, heatsinks, liquid cooling solutions and waveguide-based architectures.
• Develop modular mechanical architectures suitable for integration into larger payload or system-level assemblies, considering mass, volume, mounting interfaces and serviceability.
• Ensure designs meet RF, thermal, mechanical and environmental requirements, including EMI shielding, structural stiffness, tolerance control, CTE compatibility, vibration, shock and ingress protection.
• Create detailed 3D CAD models and engineering drawings using SolidWorks.
• Select appropriate materials, finishes and manufacturing processes to support product performance, reliability and manufacturability.

Thermal and Structural Analysis

• Perform thermal analysis and simulation, including CFD and conjugate heat transfer, to validate cooling strategies for high-power RF amplifiers and electronic assemblies.
• Conduct structural and dynamic analysis using FEA for vibration, shock, fatigue and other load-case conditions typical of high-reliability payload deployment.
• Review mechanical properties of parts and assemblies, including thermal performance, mechanical stress and environmental robustness.
• Validate simulation models through physical testing and correlation with measured data.

RF-Aware Mechanical Engineering

• Work closely with RF, electronics and systems engineers to optimise mechanical features that influence RF performance, including cavity geometry, surface finish, plating, tolerances and material selection.
• Design mechanical solutions with consideration for waveguide structures, micro-machined geometry, PCB integration and precision alignment.
• Support electromechanical product concept design in collaboration with RF, electronics and PCB design teams.

Manufacturing Support

• Develop designs for manufacturability, assembly and cost reduction using processes including CNC machining, die-casting, additive manufacturing and sheet metal manufacture.
• Generate manufacturing documentation including bills of materials, GD&T drawings and assembly instructions.
• Manage and control engineering drawings and documentation in accordance with Drawing Office standards and company processes.
• Support suppliers and production teams during prototype build, first article approval and continuous improvement activity.
• Contribute to design reviews as part of the company’s ISO and NPI processes.
• Support engineering change activity through ECN/ECO processes.

Prototyping and Testing

• Support the build and test of mechanical prototypes and development hardware.
• Support environmental and reliability testing including thermal cycling, humidity, vibration, thermal shock and drop testing.
• Work with test and process engineering to develop production hardware, jigs and fixtures to optimise build and test efficiency.
• Provide technical support to internal stakeholders, customers and external partners throughout the product lifecycle.