Job description
Anticipated start date: As soon as possible
Closing Date: 10th May 2026
Salary Band: £50k - £65k (depending on experience)
Full Time, Sheffield, UK (Onsite)
Do you want to utilise your skills to help cure cancer and make a real-world impact?
We seek a mechanical engineer who's been through the full product lifecycle more than once; someone who knows what good looks like because they've learned the hard way what bad looks like. You'll be the person our principal engineer can delegate projects to with confidence, knowing they'll come back done properly. You'll set the standard for how we design, document, and deliver mechanical systems, and you'll help build out our engineering team and department.
This isn't a role where you'll be handed a specification and left alone with CAD. You'll be deeply involved in decisions about how we build, how we manufacture, and how we ship products that work in the field. If you've spent your career building things that actually had to perform under real-world constraints, and you're ready to bring that experience to a team building something genuinely new, we'd like to talk.
WE VALUE
- A bias for action to build products with customer value.
- Engineers who care about what they build, not just how.
- Clear thinking, pragmatism, and sound judgment over buzzwords.
- Friendly, organised, efficient, and enthusiastic people with a can-do attitude.
- People who take responsibility and follow problems through.
- Low-ego individuals who love asking questions & go above and beyond to help the team succeed.
THE ROLE
You'll report to our principal engineer and act as their right hand across the mechanical engineering function. Day-to-day, you'll split your time between hands-on design work, managing engineering projects through to delivery, and mentoring team members.
A big part of this role is raising the bar. We need someone who brings rigour, proper documentation, clean CAD practices, structured design reviews, and an instinct for catching problems before they become expensive. You'll help us build the engineering discipline that lets a small team deliver products at a level our customers expect.
Key Responsibilities:
- Leading mechanical design projects from concept through detailed design, prototyping, and release to manufacture.
- Owning design-for-manufacture and design-for-assembly decisions, making sure what we design can actually be built reliably and cost-effectively.
- Managing engineering project timelines, deliverables, and priorities in coordination with the principal engineer.
- Mentoring and developing our engineering team - reviewing their work, coaching good practices, and holding the standard.
- Working with suppliers and manufacturing partners to resolve production issues and drive continuous improvement.
- Contributing to design reviews, risk assessments, and technical documentation.
NEED TO HAVE
- A strong track record of delivering manufactured physical products and electromechanical systems that work in the real world.
- Deep proficiency in CAD (we use Onshape, proficiency in Solidworks or similar is fine).
- Proven experience with design for manufacture and assembly, you understand tolerances, materials, joining methods, and what makes something manufacturable.
- Experience managing or leading engineering projects: scoping work, tracking progress, and delivering on time.
- A track record of mentoring or developing early-career engineers.
- Strong communication skills, you can explain your design decisions clearly and push back constructively when something isn't right.
- A methodical approach to documentation, version control, and engineering rigour.
NICE TO HAVE
- Experience designing precision electromechanical systems, instrumentation, or laboratory/bioprocess equipment.
- Familiarity with GMP, ISO and regulated manufacturing environments.
- Experience with FEA, CFD, or other simulation tools.
- Exposure to sheet metal, machining, injection moulding, and/or additive manufacturing processes.
While we consider applicants from any relevant background, you will likely have >7-10 years of prior professional experience.
BENEFITS
- A senior role with genuine influence, you won't be a cog in a machine; you'll be shaping how the engineering function operates.
- The opportunity to work on real systems with real-world impact; you will have direct access to the scientists using the equipment you design to discover and manufacture new medicines.
- Pension with SIPP options and support managing your investments if you want it.
- Weekly team pastries and monthly all-hands lunches.
- Conference attendance and professional development support.
- A culture that values autonomy, responsibility, and thoughtful work.
- Based in Sheffield, the UK's greenest city, on the doorstep of the Peak District, <15 minutes from our purpose-built R&D and manufacturing facility.
ABOUT US
Unicorn Biotechnologies is building the infrastructure for autonomous cell biology. We combine robotics, biology, and software into powerful, easy-to-use platforms that let scientists and manufacturers standardise, scale, and automate their workflows, from bench to factory floor. We're a Sheffield-based team with deep R&D foundations, now scaling to meet growing demand from our global customer base. You'll have real ownership over your work, genuine influence on product direction, and the chance to shape a company at a scale-up inflection point.
JOIN OUR TEAM
Submit your application here: https://forms.gle/nST45jbRSBBo8dYK8
Please fill out the application form; however, if you get stuck or have any questions email: careers@unicornb.io
Unicorn Biotechnologies is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing a working environment that embraces inclusion and diversity.