Career Profile:

Job Summary: 

As a design engineer your role is to create novel products and improve existing ones. From a sketch on paper through to manufacturing, your role is one that takes you through research, design, development, testing, production, evaluation and marketing. You will consider cost, legal aspects, practicalities, market demand, environmental impact and maintenance. To carry out this role you will use the most up to date technology and software, and create products for a defined audience.

This is a role where you are unlikely to be bored at work!

 

Job Tasks:

• Identifying product shortcomings
• Identifying market
• Developing products
• Improving current products
• Researching competitors’ products
• Developing & testing prototypes
• Evaluating
• Marketing your product
• Working with other departments from inception to production

Skills Needed for this Job:

You will need to be an excellent problem solver with good attention to detail. Being an independent thinker will help you to generate innovative ideas.  Skills in CAD, modelling and drafting are a must for a role as a design engineer.

You will work within a wider team, often in a small to medium sized business, where you could see your design go from an idea on paper to being tested and manufactured for production, so you will need to work well with others.  The role involves working with managers, colleagues and customers, so good communication and listening skills are important.

Design Engineers are usually good analysers, who can look at current products and improve designs to increase performance, reduce costs or increase efficiency.

Having an active interest in the outdoors is a must for this role.

Working Hours:

This role involves working Monday to Friday during normal office hours: 9.00-17.00 in general, however it may involve some evening and weekend work depending on the role, location and employer.

Income:

The average salary for an engineer in the UK is about £36,000. Numbers and salaries for the outdoors industry are not currently available.

Training & Qualifications:

For a career as a design engineer you will need a degree in engineering, design or industrial engineering. For some roles it may help if you have a Master’s level degree. You will likely have experience as a climber, mountaineer or walker, to enter this particular niche.

The number of engineering roles in the outdoor industry are fairly limited when compared to the number of general engineering role around the UK.  The nature of engineering means that you may be able to adapt your skills to other sectors if you decide this sector isn’t the one for you. Similarly, you may be able to transfer knowledge and skills from another area of engineering across to the outdoors industry.

Engineering and manufacturing in the UK is changing.  Hands-on, low skilled jobs have disappeared, leaving space for highly skilled and well qualified employees with excellent skills in the use of new technology, such as CADCAM, laser cutting and 3D printing.

Mentors/ Industry information:

Manufacturers of outdoor clothing and equipment are the main employers of design engineers in the outdoors industry, including RAB, Mountain Equipment, Wild Country, DMM, North Face.  You may also work for a climbing wall manufacturer.

Other Relevant Information:

Related jobs include Assistant Design Engineer, Product Developer.