Principal Mechanical Engineer - Leicester - hybrid - Staff/contract

PWHytek is currently recruiting for a Principal Mechanical Engineer to join an established engineering team delivering an innovative project within a highly regulated, safety-critical environment.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced engineer with a strong background in specialist machinery design who enjoys leading technical teams while remaining hands‑on throughout the design and development lifecycle.

Whether you're looking for a permanent position or your next contract, we'd love to hear from you.

The Role

As a Principal Mechanical Engineer, you will become an integral member of an experienced engineering team, supporting the design, development and delivery of specialist tooling solutions. You will play a key role in both the technical direction of the project and the successful integration of new systems.

Key responsibilities include:

• Supporting the design, development and refinement of specialist tool modules.
• Leading and mentoring a medium-sized mechanical engineering team.
• Driving technical excellence throughout the design process.
• Supporting prototype build, testing and evaluation activities.
• Investigating and resolving technical issues identified during testing and system integration.
• Working collaboratively with multidisciplinary engineering teams to ensure successful project delivery.
• Contributing to engineering reviews, design decisions and continuous improvement initiatives.

About You

To be successful in this role, you should have:

• Significant experience in specialist machinery or complex mechanical equipment design.
• Previous experience leading or mentoring engineering teams.
• Strong mechanical design skills and the ability to solve complex engineering problems.
• Experience working within highly regulated or safety-critical industries, such as Nuclear, Defence, Aerospace, Rail or similar.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
• A proactive, hands‑on approach to engineering and problem solving.

What's on Offer?

• Permanent or contract opportunities available.
• Hybrid working arrangement based in Leicester.
• Opportunity to work on technically challenging, high‑profile engineering projects.
• Collaborative and supportive engineering environment.
• Long-term project work with excellent career development opportunities.

If you're an experienced Principal Mechanical Engineer looking for your next challenge, we'd love to hear from you.