Mechanical Engineer (Mechanisms Specialist)

Open Cosmos Ltd
Didcot, OX11 0RL, United Kingdom
12 months ago
Job Type
Permanent
Work Location
Hybrid
Seniority
Mid
Education
Degree
Posted
16 Jun 2025 (12 months ago)

Working for Open Cosmos

Aim high, go beyond! At Open Cosmos we are solving the world’s biggest challenges from space, providing businesses, governments and researchers access to more readily available information than ever before - ready for the challenge? Then read on…

Working in the Mechanical Team

The Mechanical Team works closely with other areas of the business to design the mechanical parts of our satellites and support the build and testing of these. This involves a mix of desk-based work and hands-on work in our cleanrooms and labs.

What will you be doing?

This role will be focused specifically on the design and development of mechanisms to be used on a new generation of Open Cosmos satellites. You will spend most of your time working as the mechanical/mechanisms lead of a small team dedicated to this, but you will also be part of the general mechanical team and report to the mechanical team leader.

As well as leading on design and analysis tasks, you will be involved from the beginning with assembling and testing prototype hardware at our Harwell campus facilities.

What you need to be successful

  • You'll be well versed in designing precision motorised mechanisms, ideally for use in space.
  • You’ll be able to create mechanical designs, from concept to drawing for manufacture, using your knowledge in GD&T using ISO 1101, 2692 & 5458 or ASME Y14.5
  • You’ll be confident using CAD tools to produce parts, assemblies & drawings, and management of CAD files
  • You’ll be communicating a lot, so confidence in speaking, listening and writing, sometimes within large groups including customers is essential
  • You’ll be capable of performing high quality assembly & testing work in a cleanroom environment
  • You'll be proficient at authoring technical documents such as test reports, analysis reports and similar

This is a hybrid role. At times, you may need to be in the lab daily; at other times, you’ll have the flexibility to work remotely if you prefer.

That said, you must be ready and willing to support your colleagues onsite at Harwell whenever required.

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Mechanical Engineer

Open Cosmos Ltd Didcot, OX11 0RL, United Kingdom
Hybrid

Mechanical Engineer – Satellite Manufacturing (AIT Production)

Open Cosmos Ltd Didcot, OX11 0RL, United Kingdom
On-site

Mechanical Engineer (Mechanisms Specialist)

Open Cosmos Ltd Didcot, OX11 0RL, United Kingdom
Hybrid

Mechanical Design Engineer

Holt Engineering Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom
On-site

Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

Martin Baker Denham Green, Buckinghamshire, UB9 5JE, United Kingdom
On-site Clearance Required

Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

Saab United Kingdom
On-site Clearance Required

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Where to Advertise Space Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Where to advertise space jobs UK in 2026: the specialist boards, agency channels and community routes that reach satellite, propulsion and launch talent. The candidate pool spans satellite engineers, propulsion specialists, mission analysts, ground segment software developers, space systems architects and commercial space professionals — a highly specific multidisciplinary community that general job boards are poorly equipped to reach. The strongest space candidates are often embedded in ESA programmes, academic research groups, UK Space Agency-funded projects or established primes, and move between roles through sector-specific networks, industry bodies and conference communities rather than mainstream platforms. This guide, published by UKSpaceJobs.co.uk, covers where to advertise space industry roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about hiring across different role types.

Space Jobs UK 2026: What to Expect Over the Next 3 Years

Space Jobs UK 2026: roles, salaries and the UK space sector hiring trends shaping satellites, launch, Earth observation and space data careers. The UK space sector is in the middle of something that feels genuinely historic. A combination of government commitment, private capital, and technological progress has transformed Britain's position in the global space economy from a capable but secondary player into a nation with serious sovereign ambitions — and a jobs market that is expanding to match them. This is not the space industry of previous generations, defined by a small number of government agencies, a handful of prime contractors, and career pathways accessible only to a narrow band of elite engineers and scientists. The new space economy is broader, faster-moving, and more commercially driven than anything the sector has previously seen. Satellite manufacturing has been democratised by small sat technology. Launch is becoming domestic. Space data is flowing into applications across agriculture, insurance, climate monitoring, maritime, and defence at a scale that is creating entirely new categories of commercial hiring. And the defence and national security dimensions of space have elevated the sector's strategic importance to a degree that is driving sustained public investment in the talent pipeline. For job seekers, the UK space jobs market of 2026 represents an opportunity that is both more accessible and more technically demanding than at any previous point. The candidates who will thrive over the next three years are those who understand where the sector is heading — which programmes are moving from development into operation, which technologies are defining the architecture of modern space systems, and how the definition of a space career is expanding well beyond the spacecraft engineering core toward a much wider ecosystem of roles across the full space value chain. This article breaks down what the UK space jobs market is likely to look like through to 2028 — covering the titles emerging right now, the technologies driving employer demand, the skills that will matter most, and how to position your career at the leading edge of one of the most exciting sectors in the UK economy.