Design Engineering Expert

About The Role

The Design Engineering Expert is responsible for leading the design, construction, and maintenance of plant buildings and machinery. This role ensures that engineering solutions meet operational, safety, and environmental standards while driving innovation in plant infrastructure and equipment.

This job profile is intended for recognized subject matter experts in a job area. Required to manage large projects or processes with limited oversight from manager. Coaches, reviews and delegates work to lower level professionals.

This job and its associated grade are specifically aligned with roles that have the following scope of responsibility:

Principle Design Engineer with deep expertise in hot‑section component design, especially complex, cooled turbine blades and other high‑temperature parts within the combustor and turbine assembly.

This role is ideal for an engineer who excels at reverse engineering legacy or spare parts, defining robust re‑engineering workflows, and converting physical hardware into fully validated manufacturing‑ready designs.

Key Responsibilities

• Design & Development of Hot‑End Components: Lead the design and optimization of cooled turbine blades, vanes, and combustor components for heavy‑industrial and aero‑derivative gas turbines.
• Reverse Engineering Ownership: Perform high‑accuracy scanning (structured light, laser, CT as applicable). Define and execute structured reverse‑engineering steps—from data capture to geometric reconstruction, tolerance identification, and final 3D model creation. Translate part functionality, materials, cooling schemes, and stress environments into sound design intent.
• Material & Manufacturing Expertise: Apply knowledge of high‑temperature superalloys, casting behaviour, grain structures, and coating systems. Collaborate across the casting manufacturing value stream, from tooling and wax patterns to NDT and final release.
• Part Lifecycle & Functional Understanding: Analyse spare parts to identify wear patterns, functional clearances, cooling performance, and legacy manufacturing deviations. Own the transformation of a spare part into a validated, reverse‑engineered, production‑ready component.
• Cross‑Component Hot‑End Knowledge: Support design and troubleshooting of broader hot‑end hardware—combustor liners, transitions, fuel‑nozzle‑adjacent hot parts, and turbine section interfaces.
• Platform Knowledge: Apply familiarity with both aero‑derivative and heavy‑industrial gas turbine designs.

Preferred Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (BEng/BSc) in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Engineering, or a closely related field. A Master’s degree (MSc/MEng) or equivalent experience in turbomachinery, materials science, or thermal/structural analysis is advantageous.
• 5+ years specialising in hot‑end gas turbine components.
• Strong background in reverse engineering, including scanning techniques and digital reconstruction.
• Knowledge of superalloys, casting processes, cooling technologies, thermal‑mechanical loading, and coating systems.
• Experience with failure investigation, overhaul/refurb, or aftermarket engineering beneficial.

What we offer you

Depending on the country in which the position is filled, different country‑specific benefits apply. These may include:

• Fast decision-making processes and a high level of autonomy
• A permanent employment contract
• A solid pension scheme with attractive employer contributions
• Employee benefit programs
• Training and development opportunities aligned with your role and personal development plan

Sulzer is an equal opportunity employer. We believe in the strength of a diverse workforce and are committed to offering an inclusive work environment.

We are proud to be recognized as a Top Employer 2026 in Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Switzerland, South Africa, the UK and the USA.