Location: Birchwood Park, Warrington (near Manchester)
Employment Category: Full Time (37.5 hours per week)
Salary/Benefits: Competitive salary, with excellent benefits including 25 days annual
leave plus statutory holidays, additional leave purchase, up to 8%
matched pension contribution, health care, life assurance and more
Are you
- Experienced in mechanical assembly, integration, and testing of precision mechanisms or flight hardware?
- Confident working from engineering drawings, test procedures, and quality standards — but still eager to develop and refine your skills?
- Interested in working on space-related mechanisms and test rigs in a clean, high-quality laboratory environment?
- Comfortable working independently but also collaborating closely with senior engineers and technicians?
- Looking for a role where you’ll take ownership of technical tasks without being burdened by high-level management responsibilities?
The Company
Our client is a leading Science & Engineering company providing independent specialist
technical consultancy, products and services to the Space & Vacuum, Oil & Gas, Industrial, and Transport sectors.
They are seeking an AIT Engineer to join our Space & Vacuum team, supporting the assembly, integration and testing of precision mechanisms and hardware for spaceflight and aerospace research and development applications.
This is a hands-on role where you’ll work with flight-standard components, complex assemblies, and test rigs, contributing to high-profile space programmes. You’ll collaborate closely with senior engineers but also be trusted to manage your own tasks and responsibilities to a high standard.
The Job
As an AIT Engineer, you’ll play a key role in the preparation, build, inspection, and testing of mechanical assemblies and supporting test rigs. You’ll work independently on assigned tasks while supporting senior colleagues on more complex builds and R&D activities. You’ll complete necessary documentation and communicate with suppliers while also having some interactions with clients.
Key Responsibilities
Mechanical Assembly & Flight Hardware Build/Test
- Prepare and maintain Bills of Materials (BOMs), supporting kitting activities and ensuring full hardware traceability.
- Perform inspection of precision components, using microscopes and other metrology tools to verify compliance to engineering specifications.
- Carry out the assembly of development and flight mechanisms, working from detailed build and test procedures.
- Handle and fit bearings, gears, and high-precision components, ensuring correct
tolerances and finishes are achieved.
- Produce build documentation, inspection reports, and contribute to Non-Conformance Reports (NCRs) and root-cause investigations when required.
- Support packing, bagging, and preparation of delivery paperwork for flight-standard
components.
- Participate in post-test disassembly and inspections, documenting findings and
providing input to data analysis.
- Contribute to continuous improvement activities, ensuring lessons learned from previous projects are applied to future builds.
Test Rig / Prototype Assembly & Instrumentation Setup
- Support the setup, integration, and operation of test rigs used for R&D and flight
hardware qualification.
- Review engineering drawings and assembly instructions for test rigs, raising queries and improvements where necessary in collaboration with the mechanical engineers.
- Assist in selecting, kitting, cleaning, and preparing hardware for rig integration.
- Install and configure test rig instrumentation under supervision, contributing to data
collection and troubleshooting where needed.
- Work alongside engineers to analyse test data and provide observations for inclusion in reports.
- Help ensure rigs are properly decommissioned and instrumentation is restored for future use.
Requirements
We’re looking for a proactive, detail-oriented engineer with hands-on experience in mechanical assembly, test setups, and laboratory-based work. You’ll be capable of owning your tasks and completing documentation to accurately capture build and test activities, while working effectively within a multi-disciplinary team.
Essential Skills & Experience:
- 3+ years’ experience in AIT, mechanical assembly, or aerospace hardware testing.
- Practical knowledge of precision mechanical assembly techniques, tolerances, and GD&T.
- Comfortable working with engineering drawings, test procedures, and controlled
documentation.
- Experience with inspection techniques — including microscopes, gauges, and metrology tools — for critical components.
- Familiarity with quality-controlled environments and working to aerospace standards (e.g. ISO 9001, AS9100).
- Ability to identify and resolve basic build issues independently and escalate more complex problems when necessary
Beneficial Skills & Knowledge
While not essential, experience in the following areas would be highly advantageous:
- Exposure to motor drive systems, gearboxes, and actuation mechanisms.
- Knowledge of data acquisition (DAQ) systems, thermal monitoring, connectors, and
harness assembly.
- Supervisory experience including mentoring, work planning and line-management would be helpful.
- Awareness of ESD handling and cleanliness practices in high-integrity assembly
environments.
- Workshop skills — including safe use of lathes, mills, pillar drills, and precision hand tools.
- Experience contributing to test result analysis and report preparation.
Comfortable working hands-on in cleanroom environments, following contamination control procedures.
Qualifications
- HNC, HND, BTEC/Diploma, or equivalent in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace
Engineering, or a relevant technical discipline.
- Candidates with significant hands-on experience but no formal qualification will also be considered