The Role -
This position offers a rare opportunity to play a critical role in supporting national naval capability. As a Principal Naval Architect, you will work directly with the surface fleet, gaining real-life exposure to waterfront ship engineering across a wide portfolio of naval platforms, including destroyers, minehunters, offshore patrol vessels, small craft, unmanned craft, and auxiliary vessels.
The Responsibilities -
- Lead naval architecture input across projects involving multiple vessel and craft classes.
- Oversee design assurance ensuring compliance with defence standards, classification rules, and statutory regulations.
- Maintain design intent and ship safety across structural, stability, outfit, and hydromechanical domains.
- Lead or approve stability, hydrostatic, hydrodynamic, and structural calculations.
- Conduct or oversee surveys, material state assessments, and structural inspections.
- Direct engineering change activities and assess impacts on key hazard certification (strength, stability, watertight integrity, structural fire protection).
- Review and challenge design changes that could compromise safety cases or Naval Authority certification.
- Assure drydockings and support docking plans, inclining experiments, and ship surveys.
- Act as the senior engineering lead for assigned projects or sub-projects.
- Act as a technical point of contact for internal teams, customers, and external stakeholders.
- Degree (MEng preferred) in Naval Architecture, Marine Technology, Ship Science, or related engineering field.
- Chartered Engineer status, or the ability to achieve it within a defined timeframe.
- Extensive experience in naval defence or highly regulated marine engineering environments.
- Strong background in warship or defence vessel design, performance, structures, and stability.
- Understanding of periodical survey regimes and certification requirements.
- Proficiency with naval architecture tools (e.g., PARAMARINE) and familiarity with CAD tools (AutoCAD, Inventor).
- Expertise in engineering material selection aligned with British Standards, EuroNorms, Classification and Defence Standards.
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams, manage workload, and deliver complex engineering outputs.
- Knowledge of CFD, FEA, model testing, or advanced numerical analysis.
- Must be able to obtain UK SC and above clearance.