Mechanical Design Engineer

Allied Universal Electronic Monitoring is the industry leading technology and service company offering law enforcement and government agencies the widest variety of cutting-edge monitoring solutions. Operating in over 35 countries, we leverage an international network of expertise and resources in order to deliver a unique solution.

With nearly 30 years of industry experience in providing innovative technology solutions and first-class service, our latest electronic monitoring technologies provide solutions that aim to ensure the safety of our communities, provide an alternative to incarceration, reduce prison, overcrowding, lower recidivism and improve reintegration.

We enable our customers to effectively monitor approximately 140,00 participants every day. This includes many of the world's largest electronic monitoring programs.

We have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our team here at Allied Universal as a Mechanical Design Engineer. If you love both the R&D and Operational aspects of engineering design work and enjoy a varied workload in a fast-paced environment this role could be for you. You will play a key role in the business ensuring the success of our product and delivering excellent customer service.

As the Mechanical Design Engineer you will be developing mechanical aspects for both new products and supporting existing Allied Universal Electronic Monitoring products. Contributing to all aspects of mechanical development, manufacturing and maintenance with a strong emphasis on continuous improvement with the QMS team and supporting the NPI process.

Key Responsibilities

We are looking for an individual ready to be a crucial player in our product lifecycle, transforming ideas and concepts into reality and ensuring our designs set the industry standard. Your role will be focused on:

• Pioneering Product Excellence: Collaborate closely with a cross-functional team to conceptualise and develop robust, innovative, and commercially viable new products balancing customer and end user needs.
• Technical Authority & Compliance: Serve as the guardian of design integrity by ensuring all mechanical designs are fully type approved, meeting every aspect of functionality and performance defined in the Requirement Specifications.
• Foundational Documentation: Meticulously document and archive all mechanical designs and calculations, establishing a clear, auditable foundation for engineering knowledge.
• Innovation & Intellectual Property: Champion the development of new Intellectual Property (IP) and adhere strictly to IP documentation and confidentiality protocols to secure the company's innovation pipeline.
• Manufacturing Partnership: Provide essential technical support to our operations and production teams and contract manufacturers ensuring product designs are fully understood, correctly manufactured, to clear quality standards and easily maintained in the field.
• Strategic Market Alignment: Cultivate a deep understanding of evolving customer requirements to proactively guide product development, ensuring our offerings maintain a competitive edge. Simultaneously, maintain an up-to-date knowledge of applicable technology sectors for current and future products.
• Transparent Project Management: Provide concise weekly reports on task progress, delivering accurate and regularly updated estimates of time elapsed and the engineering effort remaining for assigned projects.

Required Skills and Experience: 

To excel in this role, you must bring a combination of specific technical skills and practical experience. 

Essential Technical Expertise

• Mechanical Design Engineering competence: This involves the deep technical knowledge required to create, analyze, and optimize mechanical systems. It includes expertise in areas like materials science, stress analysis, thermodynamics, and proficiency with relevant design software (CAD/FEA) to ensure functional and reliable product designs.

• Plastic Part Design & Manufacturing: Extensive hands-on experience in the design, tooling, and manufacturing processes specific to plastic parts, including knowledge of material properties, molding techniques, and design for manufacturability (DFM).

• Expert Solidworks Proficiency: Proven, high-level competency using Solidworks, including advanced feature modeling, complex assembly management, surface modeling, and the generation of production-ready 2D drawings. This is critical for rapid prototyping and design iteration.

• End User and Customer thinking: The ability to consistently view design challenges from the end users perspective, ensuring that the final product is not only technically sound but also meets specified customer requirements, ease-of-use, reliability standards, and delivers a superior value proposition.

• Sharing & Co-operating: This highlights the necessity for effective communication and collaboration within cross-functional teams, such as manufacturing, electrical engineering, and quality assurance. It ensures seamless integration of components and smooth transition from design to production through clear knowledge transfer.

• Driving change through working on your own initiative: This competency reflects a proactive mindset where the engineer independently seeks out and identifies opportunities for process improvements, design optimization, or innovative solutions. It means taking ownership of identifying inefficiencies and leading the implementation of corrective or improved practices without needing constant direction.

Desired Attributes 

• Advanced Mechanical Design: Demonstrated mastery of fundamental mechanical engineering principles applied to product development, capable of complex problem-solving and optimisation for performance and reliability.

• Proactive Quality Mindset: A "Right first time mentality" demonstrated by a commitment to quality assurance and error prevention throughout the design process.

• Relevant Technical Domain Experience:

  • Previous technical experience in a field directly relevant to the company's product sector (e.g., specific manufacturing technologies, materials science, or regulatory environments).

  • Familiarity with various manufacturing techniques beyond injection molding, such as sheet metal fabrication, casting, and machining processes

• Risk Mitigation Expertise: Practical experience with Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) or similar methodologies to systematically identify and mitigate design risks early in the development process.

• Analytical and Systematic Problem Solving (e.g., Root Cause Analysis, 8D methodology): The skill to methodically diagnose and resolve complex technical challenges, whether they involve design flaws, manufacturing variances, or field failures. Utilizing structured processes like Root Cause Analysis (RCA) or the 8D methodology ensures that the solutions implemented are permanent and address the underlying cause, not just the symptom.

• Structured Project and Time Management skills: The ability to plan, prioritize, and manage multiple design tasks simultaneously, adhering strictly to project timelines, milestones, and budget constraints. This ensures projects are delivered predictably and efficiently.

Professional Qualifications & Experience

• Educational Foundation: Hold a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field.

• Product Design Experience: A minimum of 2 years of professional experience operating within a structured Product Design environment, specifically working on commercial product life cycles.

• Exceptional Communication: Possess very good communication skills, enabling clear technical explanations, effective collaboration across engineering and non-technical teams, and professional report preparation.

If you feel you have the level of experience and skills we are looking for and are excited about our role then please send across your CV. Based on the nature of our business successful candidates are required to undertake a screening and vetting process. You will be required to have the right to work in the UK and have been resident in the UK for 5 years.