Research and Development Facility Technician
Brackley, UK
At the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, a group of passionate and determined people work to design, develop, manufacture and race the cars driven by seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Grand Prix winner George Russell.
Whether working in our Operations, Technical, Race or Business Support functions, we are all in and aspire to build the greatest team in the history of our sport.
Every individual plays their part. No stone is left unturned in the chase for every tenth of a second. The history of our sport is long and rich, and we are continuing our journey with renewed effort year on year. Record books remember the names of a few, but history is written by the many.
A vacancy has arisen for a technician to join our Research and Development (R&D) team. The primary responsibility for the successful candidate will be to ensure the continuous reliable operation and continuous improvement of the mechanical side of our R&D testing facilities – namely our Dyno and Test and Development Labs. The role will also cover operation of our range of powertrain cells and mechanical test rigs when required by programme. As well as candidates experienced in a Powertrain or Mechanical testing environment, we would welcome applications from across the range of disciplines as this is an ideal move for someone looking to add breadth as part of their career journey.
Key Accountabilities (Duties)
Reporting to the Lead Dyno Operations, your primary duties are facility-side and include:
Provide first-line technical support for mechanical faults within the plant and infrastructure of our R&D facilities.
Ownership of the maintenance schedule for the Dyno and Test and Development facilities, working with the relevant Operations Leads to minimise downtime.
Co-ordinate and maintain the spares inventory for the facilities.
Carry out planned maintenance activities on facility plant, and cell/test-bed specific hardware in collaboration with Dyno Cell Technicians and Test and Development Technicians.
Work with the R&D Facility Engineer to develop our FMEA’s - identifying and proactively managing risks to our operational efficiency across our R&D facilities.
Own the TPM process and deploy checks to the technicians across our R&D facilities.
Liaise with external contractors who attend site for planned / unplanned servicing work.
Investigate, plan and implement improvements to our Dyno and Test and Development plant equipment.
Proactively build links between Dyno and Test and Development to share our experiences and optimise the allocation of resource, inventory and knowledge based on the bigger picture.
This is in addition to the following Technician responsibilities to support running in our dyno and lab at times when required by the programme:
Responsibility for the correct installation of the Unit Under Test (UUT) into the test environment.
Operating the relevant test console in line with procedures across our test cells and rigs.
Reporting of faults and contributing to successful containment and countermeasure.
Collaborate with the design, performance, and test engineering teams to identify the most efficient and effective methods of delivering the agreed objectives within a test programme.
Proactively support continuous improvement and data quality activities to improve our decision-making processes.
Participate in cross-training activities – educating others in your area(s) of specialism and being open to learning about other areas of the car. This includes the support of business needs in other areas of Research and Development, for example our Test and Development Group.
Actively lead best practise on Health and Safety in all our testing activities.
Maintain excellent housekeeping standards at all times.
Support the enablement of our test facilities for commercial use.
Candidate Profile
Essential:
Previous high end dyno and/or test bed experience.
Practical knowledge of transmission, hydraulic, cooling and electrical systems.
Ability to collaborate and negotiate to deliver results across different departments.
Ability to read engineering drawings, build fixtures and verify setups for experiments.
Demonstrated ability to take responsibility for maintenance and system fault resolution.
Curious, committed to continuous learning, and ability to adapt quickly to change.
Desirable:
Demonstrable experience of working in a high-performance engineering environment.
Experience in delivering experimental results in support of a fast-paced programme with immovable deadlines.
Trackside motorsport experience.
Ability to creatively present data in formats that make it accessible and understandable to a wide range of stakeholders and business areas.
Specific Advantageous Experiences:
Use of AVL Puma 2.0, MTS, Siemens, and D-Space user interfaces.
Use of Instron software + hardware, Dewesoft data acquisition software + hardware.
Use of ATLAS 10 for analysing live and logged data.
Previous trackside F1 experience.
Experience with using Dassault 3DX for extracting information from CAD.
Electrical diagnostic ability such as 17th/18th Edition qualification.
Benefits:
Our riverside campus is powered by 100% renewably sourced energy and features an on-site gym and exercise studio, subsidised restaurant and on-site parking with EV chargers available.
We offer a competitive and attractive package of benefits including a generous bonus scheme, Mercedes car lease scheme, private medical cover, life assurance and 25 days holiday. We pride ourselves on our family-friendly environment and employee well-being programmes.
Why us:
At the heart of our performance are our people. Every member of our team has a voice and plays their part in contributing to our successes on and off the racetrack. We take pride in creating an innovative, collaborative and high-performance culture where all of our team members are respected, empowered and valued.
Through our Accelerate 25 programme, we are continuously working to make our team even more diverse and inclusive. Whatever your background, we believe that you will find working with us rewarding and enriching.