At Eakin Healthcare, we put patients at the heart of everything we do. We are a family-owned global medical device company with a proud heritage of innovation and care. We deliver innovative solutions across Ostomy, Respiratory, and Surgical therapies, along with our Respond home delivery service. Founded over 50 years ago, we now have a team of over 700 dedicated people across three UK manufacturing sites, 12 international sales and distribution centres and export to over 60 countries. We’ve been recognised as a Great Place to Work® ! And we’re proud to be named among the Best Workplaces in Healthcare and Best Workplaces for Women. At Eakin Healthcare, we’re united by one mission: working together to improve lives - just like we’ve been doing for over five decades. WHY JOIN US? We’re good at what we do – come and join us and you can benefit from: Blended Working Bonus 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (rising to 28) Option to buy holiday days Wellbeing Programme Health Cash Plan Pension Life Assurance Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Cycle to Work Scheme Referral Scheme Long Service Awards Free Parking ABOUT THE ROLE Eakin R&D is now recruiting for a student placement in the Mechanical Engineering team. This role is an exciting opportunity to be part of the wider development team that drive the research and product development activities for the introduction of new medical devices in the therapeutic areas of ostomy, respiratory, wound and surgical healthcare. The duration of the placement is for one year. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES In Eakin R&D’s labs at the Comber site a suite of test rigs that simulate real world environments for Eakin ostomy medical devices have been installed. These tests subject ostomy products to a design verification process that is more robust when compared with traditional test methods. This process should reduce the risk associated with validation activities which provides an opportunity of improving the speed to market and reducing the related costs in a product’s development cycle. The focus of this student placement is to contribute to the continued development of the design verification process used at Eakin R&D. The key deliverables are: Understand Eakin R&D’s current design verification process. Identify any areas of inefficiency in the process. Propose improvements to the process. Contribute to the development of an exemplar demonstrating an improvement in the process. Other To adhere to the company’s Equal Opportunities policy and Dignity at work policy in all activities and to actively promote equality of opportunity wherever possible. To be responsible for your own health and safety and that of your colleagues, in accordance with the company’s’ Health and Safety policy. To adhere to the company’s Quality policy and Environmental policy. To undertake other duties as may be reasonably required. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR Essential Currently undertaking a degree in Mechanical, Biomechanical Engineering or equivalent. It is essential that the successful candidate can demonstrate a desire to implement the engineering theory taught in their degree to solve real world problems. The successful candidate will also: have a ‘can do’ attitude and be able to work on their own initiative. be able to work in a multi-functional team and to build relationships with peers. Desirable Interest or experience in the Medical Devices sector. Awareness of polymer processing and polymer joining methods, concentrating on the processing and heat sealing techniques for polymer films (e.g. thermal, RF and ultrasonic welding). Understanding of the design verification process in product development. Able to demonstrate expertise in the application of engineering analysis to real world problems (e.g. calculations, mathematical modelling, computational simulation etc.) An ability to collect, analyse and interpret data. KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS Internal As a member of the mechanical engineering team, the successful candidate will be required to develop working relationship with the wider Eakin R&D team which includes teams from design, formulation, industrialisation and programs. In developing the design verification process there is an opportunity to work with Eakins insights, operations and quality teams. External The external working relationships that may need to be developed include those with suppliers, external consultants and centres of technical excellence (e.g. Universities, test houses etc.) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Maybe required to travel from time to time to support activities at other sites and to meet with suppliers. Interviews to take place mid Nov – mid Dec 2025 to join the business in July 2026 COMPETENCIES Customer Focus Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions. Manages Complexity Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems. Action Oriented Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm. Collaborates Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives. Interpersonal Savvy Relating openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people. Communicates Effectively Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences. Nimble Learning Actively learning through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder. Being Resilient Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.