Senior Design Engineer – Chieftain Trailers
Department: Engineering
Reports To: Engineering Manager / Technical Director
Location: Chieftain Trailers
Employment Type: Full-Time
Role Purpose
Chieftain Trailers is seeking an experienced Senior Design Engineer to join our engineering team and play a key role in the design, development, and continuous improvement of our trailer product range.
The successful candidate will take technical ownership of trailer design projects from initial concept through detailed design, manufacture, testing, and production release.
This is a hands-on engineering position requiring strong mechanical design experience, advanced SolidWorks capability, and a practical understanding of fabricated steel structures, chassis design, running gear, hydraulic systems, and trailer manufacturing.
The role will suit an engineer who enjoys working closely with manufacturing and who can combine sound engineering principles with practical, cost-effective solutions.
Key ResponsibilitiesTrailer Design & Product Development
- Lead the design and development of new trailer products and customer-specific variants.
- Design complete trailer chassis, fabricated structures, subframes, decks, ramps, drawbars, brackets, supports, and associated assemblies.
- Develop designs suitable for heavy-duty, specialist, agricultural, construction, transport, and low-loader applications as required.
- Consider payload, gross vehicle weight, axle loading, load distribution, centre of gravity, stability, ground clearance, approach angles, and operational requirements throughout the design process.
- Develop practical solutions for specialist customer requirements while maximising the use of standardised company components.
- Take projects from initial concept and feasibility through detailed design, prototype manufacture, testing, and production release.
- Review existing products and identify opportunities to improve durability, weight, manufacturing efficiency, reliability, and cost.
SolidWorks Responsibilities
The Senior Design Engineer will be expected to demonstrate a high level of competence in SolidWorks, including:
- Complex 3D assemblies.
- Multi-body part modelling.
- Weldments and structural members.
- Sheet metal design.
- Configurations.
- Design tables.
- Parametric modelling.
- Top-down assembly design.
- In-context modelling.
- Manufacturing drawings.
- General arrangement drawings.
- Exploded assemblies.
- Bills of Materials.
- Revision-controlled engineering documentation.
The role will also include:
- Developing robust and reusable SolidWorks models.
- Improving standard company drawing templates and modelling practices.
- Maintaining libraries of standard trailer components and assemblies.
- Ensuring models remain stable and manageable across multiple product configurations.
- Reviewing and approving drawings produced by other engineers and designers.
- Supporting the effective use of SolidWorks PDM where applicable.
Chassis & Structural Engineering
- Design welded and bolted trailer structures suitable for demanding operating environments.
- Select appropriate structural steel sections, plate thicknesses, materials, and reinforcement arrangements.
- Consider fatigue, stress concentrations, bending, torsion, local loading, and load paths during design.
- Optimise trailer structures to achieve the required strength while controlling tare weight.
- Carry out or support structural calculations and design validation.
- Use Finite Element Analysis (FEA) where appropriate to assess structural performance and optimise designs.
- Review areas of structural failure, cracking, distortion, or premature wear and implement corrective design changes.
Axles, Suspension & Running Gear
Provide engineering input into the selection, layout, and integration of trailer running gear, including:
- Trailer axles.
- Mechanical suspension.
- Air suspension.
- Hydraulic suspension where applicable.
- Steering axle systems.
- Self-steering and forced-steering arrangements.
- Braking systems.
- Wheels and tyres.
- Landing legs.
- Couplings and drawbar systems.
- Fifth-wheel and kingpin arrangements where applicable.
The Senior Design Engineer will be expected to understand the relationship between trailer geometry, axle loads, suspension performance, steering behaviour, tyre clearance, and vehicle stability.
Hydraulic & Pneumatic Systems
Where applicable, responsibilities will include:
- Integration of hydraulic systems into trailer designs.
- Hydraulic suspension systems.
- Hydraulic steering systems.
- Hydraulic ramps.
- Hydraulic cylinders and actuators.
- Power packs.
- Hose routing and protection.
- Valve and control arrangements.
- Pneumatic braking and suspension systems.
The engineer should be able to work effectively with specialist suppliers to specify and integrate hydraulic, pneumatic, braking, and steering components.
Design for Manufacture
A key requirement of the role is ensuring that engineering designs work effectively in production.
Responsibilities include:
- Working closely with fabrication, welding, machining, cutting, folding, painting, assembly, and final-fit departments.
- Designing components with realistic manufacturing tolerances.
- Reducing unnecessary welding, machining, fabrication complexity, and component count.
- Improving access for welding and assembly.
- Designing around available manufacturing processes and equipment.
- Improving jigs, fixtures, tooling, and assembly methods.
- Reducing manufacturing time and production cost.
- Reducing scrap, rework, and design-related production issues.
- Ensuring drawings clearly communicate all information required by manufacturing.
The Senior Design Engineer will be expected to spend time within the manufacturing environment and work directly with production personnel to resolve issues.
Engineering Calculations & Validation
The role will include carrying out or reviewing engineering calculations relating to areas such as:
- Axle load distribution.
- Payload capacity.
- Chassis bending.
- Structural loading.
- Beam calculations.
- Weld loading.
- Fastener selection.
- Hydraulic forces.
- Cylinder sizing.
- Ramp loading.
- Stability.
- Centre of gravity.
- Drawbar and coupling loads.
- Kingpin loads where applicable.
Engineering judgement should be supported by calculations, simulation, physical testing, previous validated designs, or recognised engineering standards as appropriate.
Engineering Change Control
- Manage engineering changes through a controlled Engineering Change Request / Engineering Change Notice process.
- Investigate problems identified by Production, Quality, Service, or customers.
- Carry out root-cause analysis on design-related failures.
- Ensure design changes are correctly documented and communicated.
- Maintain accurate drawing and BOM revisions.
- Ensure superseded designs are removed from production use.
- Assess the impact of engineering changes on existing products, stock, tooling, and production processes.
Vehicle Compliance & Type Approval
Support the design and documentation required to ensure Chieftain trailer products meet applicable regulatory requirements.
Responsibilities may include:
- UK and European trailer legislation.
- Vehicle type approval and homologation requirements.
- Braking system requirements.
- Lighting and conspicuity requirements.
- Dimensions and mass requirements.
- Rear and side protection.
- Coupling requirements.
- Axle and suspension approvals.
- Technical documentation.
- Compliance drawings and calculations.
The Senior Design Engineer should ensure regulatory requirements are considered from the beginning of the design process rather than treated as a final-stage activity.
Technical Leadership
As a senior member of the engineering department, the role will include:
- Providing technical leadership to Design Engineers, CAD Designers, Graduate Engineers, and apprentices.
- Reviewing and approving engineering designs and drawings.
- Leading formal and informal design reviews.
- Supporting engineers with difficult technical problems.
- Promoting good SolidWorks modelling and drawing practices.
- Developing engineering standards and procedures.
- Identifying training and development requirements within the design team.
- Mentoring less experienced engineers.
- Helping prioritise engineering workload.
- Supporting project planning and delivery.
The Senior Design Engineer will be expected to challenge designs constructively and ensure engineering decisions are technically justified.
New Product Introduction
- Support new products through prototype and pre-production builds.
- Work directly with production during first builds.
- Capture manufacturing feedback.
- Identify and resolve design issues before full production release.
- Coordinate design amendments arising from prototype testing.
- Produce complete engineering release packages.
- Ensure drawings, BOMs, manufacturing information, and purchased component specifications are complete before production launch.
Supplier Development
- Work closely with suppliers of axles, suspension systems, brakes, hydraulics, steelwork, machined components, wheels, tyres, couplings, electrical components, and other specialist equipment.
- Prepare technical specifications for purchased components.
- Review and approve supplier drawings.
- Evaluate alternative components and suppliers.
- Support Purchasing with technical supplier discussions.
- Assist with component cost reduction and standardisation.
Customer & Sales Support
- Support Sales with technical feasibility assessments.
- Review customer specifications and operating requirements.
- Develop engineering concepts for bespoke trailer applications.
- Provide technical information for quotations.
- Attend customer technical meetings where required.
- Ensure customer-specific requirements are fully captured before detailed engineering begins.
- Support investigation of technical warranty and service issues.
Continuous Improvement
The Senior Design Engineer will be expected to actively identify opportunities to:
- Reduce trailer tare weight.
- Increase payload capacity.
- Improve product life.
- Reduce warranty issues.
- Reduce manufacturing hours.
- Reduce material usage.
- Reduce component count.
- Standardise common assemblies.
- Improve interchangeability of components.
- Improve product serviceability.
- Improve manufacturing quality.
- Improve engineering documentation.
- Improve engineering lead times.
Essential Experience
Candidates should have significant experience in mechanical design within a manufacturing environment and demonstrate:
- Advanced SolidWorks capability.
- Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals.
- Experience designing welded steel structures.
- Experience producing fabrication and manufacturing drawings.
- Understanding of welding and fabrication.
- Understanding of sheet metal and machining processes.
- Experience with large mechanical assemblies.
- Experience taking products from concept through to manufacture.
- Ability to perform mechanical engineering calculations.
- Understanding of tolerances and manufacturing limitations.
- Experience solving design-related production problems.
- Strong engineering judgement.
- Strong attention to detail.
- Experience managing engineering revisions and changes.
- Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical personnel.
Preferred Qualifications
Ideally candidates will hold one of the following, or equivalent experience:
- BEng / BSc in Mechanical Engineering.
- BEng / BSc in Automotive Engineering.
- HND / HNC in Mechanical Engineering.
- Degree in Product Design Engineering or a closely related discipline.
Significant relevant industry experience may be considered in place of formal academic qualifications.
Highly Desirable Experience
Experience in any of the following would be particularly beneficial:
- Trailer manufacturing.
- Low-loader trailers.
- Heavy-haul trailers.
- Agricultural trailers.
- Construction machinery.
- Commercial vehicles.
- Specialist vehicles.
- Heavy fabrication.
- Structural steel design.
- Hydraulic suspension.
- Hydraulic steering.
- Multi-axle trailer systems.
- Air braking systems.
- Vehicle homologation.
- UK / EU trailer type approval.
- SolidWorks Simulation / FEA.
- SolidWorks PDM.
- ERP / MRP systems.
- DFMEA.
- Design for Manufacture and Assembly.
- Engineering Change Control.
Personal Attributes
The ideal candidate will be:
- A practical engineer with a strong manufacturing mindset.
- Comfortable taking technical responsibility for major projects.
- Confident making engineering decisions.
- Proactive and solutions-focused.
- Highly organised.
- Detail-oriented.
- Commercially aware.
- Comfortable challenging existing designs and processes.
- Able to communicate effectively with production personnel.
- Comfortable working both independently and as part of a wider team.
- Willing to get involved directly with prototype and production builds.
- Capable of mentoring and developing other engineers.
Key Performance Indicators
Performance within the role may be assessed against:
- Delivery of engineering projects on schedule.
- Accuracy and quality of engineering drawings.
- Reduction in drawing errors.
- Reduction in production engineering queries.
- Reduction in design-related rework.
- Product reliability.
- Trailer tare-weight reduction.
- Manufacturing cost reduction.
- Engineering lead-time reduction.
- Successful delivery of new-product projects.
- Effective engineering change control.
- Standardisation of components and assemblies.
- Development of junior engineering personnel.
Overall Objective
The overall objective of the Senior Design Engineer is to help Chieftain Trailers deliver safe, robust, manufacturable, cost-effective and technically excellent trailer products, while improving the engineering systems and standards that support future product development.
The successful candidate should be equally comfortable designing a trailer in SolidWorks, reviewing structural calculations, solving an issue on the production floor, discussing a component with a supplier, and mentoring a junior engineer.
Benefits:
- Canteen
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee mentoring programme
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Dungannon BT71 4DP: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Education:
Experience:
- Design : 5 years (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Location:
- Dungannon BT71 4DP (preferred)
Work Location: In person
