R&D: Design and Testing Industrial Placements

Research and Development: Design and Testing Industrial Placement

Brackley, United Kingdom

Build your skills. Make an impact. Race towards excellence.

Every dream needs a team.

Join the Research and Development Department as we take on the challenge of Formula One’s exciting new era of sustainable technical regulations.

By spending your year in industry with us, you will:

• Apply your learning in one of the most technically demanding global sports.
• Take on responsibility as you are supported and trained throughout your year
• Join us for a year-long placement from the end of June 2026 to the end of July 2027
• Work in a fast-paced environment at our state-of-the-art factory in Brackley, United Kingdom
• Be an integral part of a cohort of students working across all functions of our team
  
  

As a Research and Development Design Industrial Placement, you will offer design support across two of our main on-site test facilities – the Dyno and the Test Laboratory. The projects associated with this role will include:

• Design of interfaces between car components and test rigs to enable performance testing, reliability prove-out or production sign-off.
• Design of “Proof of Concept” installations to demonstrate the validity of a new technology or supplier such that they are ready to be incorporated into new car designs.
• Support the capture of requirements and development of specifications for new testing facilities and capabilities.
• Helping with commercialisation of our high-end test capabilities (e.g. understanding how to bring a new client in to use our seven post rig or our transmission dyno).
• Own feedbacks for testing rigs – working on immediate containments for issues and developing long term countermeasures to ensure that the next time we perform the experiment it is better than the last.
  
  

As a Research and Development Testing Industrial Placement, you will offer engineering support to the operations teams within one of our two main test facilities – the Dyno and the Test Laboratory. The projects associated with this role will include:

• Providing Design & Engineering support critical performance events such as our Virtual Track Test (Dyno) and Seven Poster Dynamics Test (Lab), to push lap time and reliability to the track.
• Lead and conduct Materials tests programmes, these could include fuel/oil compatibility testing or defining mechanical properties for a material via tensile testing. Opportunities to be involved with other standard component testing, such as Cooling Development in our thermal dyno.
• Produce designs and drawings to resolve feedback via CAD, working closely with Technicians to ensure optimised solutions to improve the operational performance of the facilities.
• Manage our Engineering Group FDM 3D Printer requests to execute rapid prototyping within the Design Office.
• Develop and streamline our existing test processes and methods to make them more robust, quicker to execute, and/or at improved value.
• Produce and critically analyse data insights to enable decisions to be made concisely and right first time. This could range from automating analysis of data acquisition during a test to visualising our operational efficiency.
• Support with knowledge capture when we learn something through a success or a failure, so that we always strive to perform the experiment better next time.
  
  

Note that we will interview for both the placements together and make an informed decision on where to place the successful applicants once the process is complete. If you have a strong preference for a specific area you will be able to make this clear during the assessment centre.

Successful candidates will:

• Be currently studying a degree with relevance to engineering (e.g. Mechanical, Automotive, Aeronautical, Mechatronics, Electronics, Physics)
• Have at least one year remaining on your current course or be enrolled on your next course* from the point at which you start your placement with us (Please note that if you will be enrolled on a Masters or PhD course you will need to be able to evidence enrolment to confirm eligibility)
• Be curious, committed to continuous learning, and able to adapt quickly to change.
• Show determination and resilience when facing challenges
  
  

Additional desirable criteria:

• Experience and enjoyment of any of the following specialisms would be beneficial:
• Mechanical design, producing engineering drawings, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), hydraulic design, conducting hand calculations to verify the appropriateness of a design, vehicle dynamics (lab), Powertrains (Dyno), Instrumentation, Data Analysis, Design of Experiments
• Practical experience of building, maintaining and/or analysing motor/electric vehicles (for example – Formula Student, volunteering or racing in a series, building a kit car)
• Track record of participation in outreach activities such as volunteering, charity work, mentoring
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to present information in formats that make it accessible and understandable to a wide range of stakeholders and business areas
  
  

Skills you could gain from your placement include:

• An ability to use a CAD package (we use CATIA 3DX) to design mechanical components and assemblies right-first time within a high-end motorsport environment
• How to approach and lay out an engineering drawing to British Standards, using Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T)
• Ability to analyse live and logged data to draw conclusions on system health
• Knowledge of different test methods and rig capabilities in a motorsport environment
• Understanding how to plan, execute and report on experiments
• An understanding of how to work effectively across multiple disciplines (within the Research and Development group we consist of Engineering, Operations, Materials Science, Computer Aided Engineering, and Design)
  
  

Please note that we plan for full training to be provided in CAD, drawing, FEA, data analysis and testing methods as part of the scheduling of the placement. It does not matter whether you already have an interest in motorsport: we are looking for individuals who are passionate about reaching their full potential and are excited about constantly learning. Whatever your background, we believe that you will find your placement with us a memorable and enriching experience.

Benefits:

When you put the effort in, we give it back. Start with a competitive salary, a generous joining bonus, add in a world-class wellbeing programme (including a free on-site gym), delicious, subsidised food, and private medical cover - all on our riverside campus powered by 100% renewable energy. You’ll have everything you need to thrive both inside and outside of work.

How to apply:

• Submit your CV and cover letter as a single PDF to our Workday portal
• Complete our application form
• If you are successful, please note this role will require a five year background check and basic criminal records check. We also require you to evidence any gaps of more than 28 days within this period
  
  

Our IP programme is designed with the intent to progress into available graduate roles in the future. You will be required to meet the eligibility criteria of the IP programme including any right to work requirements for your application to progress. As these roles are based in the UK, any visa sponsorship must meet current Home Office immigration rules.

Ref : REQ-250367