Job Description
With rapidly increasing demand for new plant, equipment, and life-extension projects in the defence sector, Assystem’s stress and structural integrity experts are central to our growth. We are now seeking a Principal Stress Engineer who will also act as a Stress Capability Lead, shaping the direction, capability, and excellence of our internal stress simulation and assessment engineering function.
Lead, build and guide a community of highly-skilled stress engineers
Develop future technical leaders
Drive capability, resourcing and business development alongside senior leadership
Your Missions:
Technical Delivery
You will lead project teams and technical work in client facing roles, delivering high-quality stress analysis and structural integrity assessments:
Act as a technical lead for stress and structural integrity, providing expert advice, troubleshooting, and technical oversight.
Represent Assystem in client meetings.
✅ Serve as an Independent Technical Approver to ensure the highest engineering standards.
Use Finite Element Analysis and traditional hand calculations to justify strength, fatigue, defect tolerance, and structural performance to international codes and standards (including pressure vessel and defect-tolerance codes).
Collaborate closely with safety case authors, design engineers, and multidisciplinary delivery teams.
Mentor junior engineers, offering technical guidance and helping shape our next generation of stress specialists.
Stress Capability Lead
A portion of your time will be dedicated to leading, developing, and growing Assystem’s internal stress capability:
Capability Development & Governance
Define the strategic development roadmap for stress engineering capability within Assystem UK.
Maintain and improve technical processes, methods, best-practice guides and quality frameworks.
Monitor workload, skill gaps and training needs across the stress discipline.
Lead technical upskilling initiatives, coaching frameworks and internal training pathways.
Team Growth, Recruitment & Retention
Work with the Engineering Directors and Business Management teams to forecast demand, plan workforce requirements, and shape the long-term capability pipeline.
Support recruitment campaigns, interviewing and selecting high-quality stress engineers.
Ensure strong retention by fostering a supportive culture, mentoring talent, and providing growth opportunities.
Sales, Bidding & Business Development
Collaborate with Sales and Business Development teams to identify opportunities where stress capability adds value.
• Contribute to bids, proposals, client presentations and technical sales materials.
• Represent stress capability during strategic planning, major pursuits, and innovation initiatives.
Internal & External Leadership
• ️ Act as a visible leader and ambassador for stress engineering across Assystem and with clients.
• Build and maintain relationships with key technical stakeholders, partners and industry bodies.
Qualifications
Qualifications
We want someone who can
• Build high-performing teams supporting a range of customers and industry sectors.
• Lead stress and structural integrity assessments using modern techniques.
• ✍️ Deliver and review high-quality technical assessments to recognised standards.
• Mentor and guide junior engineers while acting as a senior technical reference point.
• Work directly with clients to tackle complex stress and integrity challenges.
• Demonstrate expert FE analysis capability (strength, fatigue, defects, lifetime assessments).
• Apply ASME III / ASME VIII, API-579, BS7910, BS7608, R4/R5/R6 codes.
• Desirable: experience in CFD, dynamics, fatigue, and degradation mechanisms.
• ⚛️ Must have experience in the nuclear sector or a comparable highly regulated sector.
Your Toolbox Should Include
• Degree in engineering + Chartered Engineer (CEng).
• ️ Experience in stress assessments in the nuclear sector.
• ️ Strong communicator with excellent commercial awareness.
• Expert in ABAQUS (or ANSYS, LS-Dyna, etc.).
• Experience with Altair Hyperworks or similar tools.
• Familiarity with code assessments (ASME, PD5500, BS2573, BS EN 13001, R6).
• Coding and scripting using languages such as Python.
• ⚙️ Knowledge of manufacturing methods, materials, and inspection techniques.
Additional Information
Why join the community of switchers:
Ongoing training with numerous career opportunities.
70% of our managers are promoted internally!
✨8% company pension contributions
⚡Discounts on restaurants, days out, and high-street brands
Not a perfect match? Let’s talk anyway—we’re open to developing the right talent.
Additional Requirements:
Due to the nature of work to be undertaken applicants will be required to meet certain residency criteria in order to attain a minimum level of UK security clearance if not already security cleared to a minimum SC level.
We are committed to equal treatment of candidates and promote, as well as foster all forms of diversity within our company. We believe that bringing together people with different backgrounds and perspectives is essential for creating innovative and impactful solutions. Skills, talent, and our people’s ability to dare are the only things that matter !. Bring your unique contributions and help us shape the future.
We are committed to equal treatment of candidates and promote, as well as foster all forms of diversity within our company. We believe that bringing together people with different backgrounds and perspectives is essential for creating innovative and impactful solutions. Skills, talent, and our people’s ability to dare are the only things that matter !. Bring your unique contributions and help us shape the future.