Role: Principal Engineer
Salary: £80,000 per annum
Location: Bedford
Contract: Fulltime, Permanent
Department: Engineering
Benefits:
* On-site parking
* Pension: 4% employee / 4% employer
* 25 days’ holiday + bank holidays
* Holiday buying scheme (up to 5 extra days)
* Life assurance
* Enhanced maternity pay
* Enhanced sick pay
* Career development including funded CIPS qualifications
* Early Friday finishes
Overview:
We are looking for a highly experienced Principal Engineer to provide technical leadership, guide design decisions, and drive engineering best practices across the organisation. This senior role involves shaping technology strategy, mentoring engineering teams, and ensuring delivery of high-quality, scalable pumping solutions. You’ll collaborate with customers, sales, and cross-functional teams to define product requirements, support project lifecycles, and deliver value-engineered solutions.
Key Responsibilities:
* Lead R&D initiatives and integrate emerging technologies to drive innovation.
* Improve project processes, lessons learned, and bid strategies.
* Translate customer requirements into product design, testing, and procedures.
* Own product strategy and standardisation initiatives to reduce costs and speed up time to market.
* Provide technical support and oversight for equipment installation, operation, and maintenance.
* Ensure structural integrity and hydraulic design compliance with industry standards.
* Oversee motor and pump selection to ensure optimal performance.
* Deliver value engineering and root cause analysis (FMEA, 8D) to solve technical issues.
* Maintain compliance with regulatory standards and influence industry specifications.
* Lead ATEX compliance for selected products.
Qualifications & Experience Required:
* Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
* 10+ years in mechanical design and analysis of industrial rotating machinery (pumps, motors).
* Strong commercial awareness and ability to align engineering solutions with market needs.
* Expertise in centrifugal pump design, hydraulics, material science, thermal dynamics, electromechanical systems, rotodynamics, vibration, and failure diagnostics.
* Hands-on experience with ISO, API, and HI standards, design validation, and product testing.
* Strong technical skills for interpreting drawings, specifications, and reports.
* Excellent problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills.
* Highly proactive, detail-oriented, and self-motivated.
Desirable Skills:
* Experience in water industry markets.
* Product management experience.
* Solidworks, MathCAD, Ansys FEA/CFX.
* Vibration/noise analysis and condition monitoring.
* Electrical MCC panel knowledge.
* Chartered Engineer (CEng) status or working toward it.
Apply
If this role sounds of interest, please click apply to send your CV.